


F-Zero: Seppuku - Part 1/3

by Siontix



Series: F-Zero: Seppuku [1]
Category: F-Zero (Video Games)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-04
Updated: 2012-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-20 00:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 198,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8230750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siontix/pseuds/Siontix
Summary: Chiya Flower is one of too many homeless citizens of Mute City's 'Lower City,' house to over a million--including the very belligerent gangs of Red Star and the Bloody Chain. Down on her luck, without a job, home, friends; the Mysterian lives an ambitious life--avoiding everyone she can if applicable.  Having gone from the minor stardom light of JV Girls' Soccer striker of her hometown, Chiya can only dream of tasting the fame that could have been.On a peculiar night in the Lower City, Chiya has a run-in with the likes of Lieutenant Seppuku--a Man of Darkness, former detective lieutanant of Jody Summer's Federation branch, and hardened vigilante. Seeing potential in the ambitious Mysterian, Seppuku strikes a deal with Chiya; promise of one day owning an F-Zero machine, in exchange for...





	0. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> F-Zero: Seppuku, while not perfectly faithful to the source material, is the largest F-Zero story there is, comprising of three 'Parts' for a total of 1.6+ million words. The complete work can currently be viewed on Fanfiction or Deviantart, but will soon be mobilizing in full here to Archive.
> 
> Story contains violence, sexual themes, alcohol, mentioning of drugs/tobacco, agnostic religious views, and offensive language anywhere below the "F" word.
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own F-Zero, all F-Zero titles are property of Nintendo. Most characters in F-Zero: Seppuku belong to Nintendo, (with the exception of Chiya Flower, Earl Bendek, Lieutenant Seppuku, etc.) In addition to this, F-Zero: Seppuku is a non-profit and non-canon work; any donations toward F-Zero: Seppuku will be declined. You can show your support of F-Zero: Seppuku by providing your support to any community asking Nintendo to create a new F-Zero video game. Feel free to pitch forward the idea of canonizing Chiya Flower as a Nintendo character--a movement we've (the makers/fans of Seppuku) have been hoping to achieve for nearly 5 years now.

Written 2012-2013 by Elijah D. Marg

 

♦

 

**F-ZERO: Seppuku**

**Part 1/3**

 

 ♦

 

_Elijah D. Marg_

 

_F-Zero is the property of Nintendo. F-Zero: Seppuku is a non-profit work taking place in Nintendo's F-Zero universe along with an array of implemented original ideas._

 

==Lap 1==

 

Mute City was soon to host the first race for the annual F-Zero Grand Prix. The universe was becoming very festive as the grand opening was one day away. Many taverns and secret gambling parlors were opening for the upcoming race, the first race of the Grand Prix would bring in many fans to watch F-Zero while drinking. F-Zero, or ' _Formula Zero_ ' was the universally adored style of racing in the universe. One needn't argue that F-Zero had usurped association football's title as the greatest and most anticipated sport. F-Zero is nothing like Formula One racing, the common F-Zero machine is capable of hovering at a speed of up to 2,000 km/h—or 1,200+ mph. The tracks that these machines raced on were long, complex, and often times lethal to the racer.

Many have attempted to convert their sports cars into F-Zero machines, but most of them fail immediately by failing to supercharge their engine. Those few who succeed in creating a machine typically wreck their hard work or end up in the hospital, if not dead. Red Canyon, a dry canyon outside of Mute City, served as a popular place for novices to train at after completing their machines. Some notable racers who have perfected the handling of F-Zero machines are: Captain Falcon, Black Shadow, Jody Summer, Michael Chain, Samurai Goroh, and many more. Captain Falcon earned himself the most fame of all racers due to his mysterious persona, great success, and respectable deeds to society. Of the thirty-some racers competing in the Grand Prix, Captain Falcon held the title trophy for fan favorite.

The young woman continued her way along the Lower City. The package she was now carrying possessed a very heavy engine. Her attempt to supercharge it surprisingly brought about a positive result. The process she had gone through was likely the first requirement in creating an F-Zero machine; what she now possessed was indeed an F-Zero engine. Though she had proven that the engine was indeed supercharged and working, the question remained as to whether or not it was a competition worthy piece of equipment.

The route she was taking soon brought her past one of the more lively blocks of the Lower City. Likely a hundred or less homeless citizens burrowed within the alleys and buildings within this block; they were like ants, and the block their ant hill—only there was no queen to keep them in order. The traveling woman took the time into account along with her position in the city. She knew it to be true that the box in her hands would make her a potential target.

The fears of being ambushed only intensified as she look left into a pitch dark alley. Her eyes caught sight of a small orange glow—a lone cigarette. The woman's eyes widened and thus she picked up the pace. To make matters worse, there were actually two cigarettes; though she only saw one. Though there was no actual wrongdoing occurring on part of the two men, the woman knew best to stay out of sight.

One man glanced around the corner and captured the woman in his gaze. He grunted softly in surprised, tossed his stick of nicotine aside, then whispered softly into his companion's ear. They both grinned and looked toward the lone female, seeing two things of grand interest on her.

The young woman momentarily bobbed her head up in fright, both men had begun stalking her closely. Frantic and alert, she began toying around with her light gold hair in an attempt to calm herself down. One such as herself could make the fair assumption that these two were dangerous. The sad reality of the situation was that even if she could make it home with the two following, there'd still be no potential options for defense. Escaping their sight was the one and only solution.

She rounded the corner of the block hoping that their decision to follow was just a coincidence and that they were merely walking along the same sidewalk. Unfortunately, this were no coincidence; this much had become evident to her as the two men rounded the corner as well.

A much more intense buildup of panic and fear developed as the woman quickly came to the realization that she would not be reaching her destination without first confronting her pursuers. Her decision to contemplate fearfully what might happen rather than take action, ultimately, left her guard down. Before a final decision could be made, one of the men had skipped in front of her and pushed against the box to stop her.

Following a gasp, the woman had suddenly found herself looking into the man's eyes. He had an unrealistic looking grin and a solid stare; but worst of all, the putrid odor of alcohol was slipping out from between his lips. Given that the man was drunk, she needn't doubt that his intentions may be very bed.

With a slurring accent and fake smile the man asked, “Say, where are you off to in such a hurry?”

The other man caught up with the two and walked up beside the woman. She briefly grit her teeth in fear while tugging on her turtleneck.

“Oh, pardon me, but I really must be getting somewhere before midnight,” she responded nervously in a polite way.

The two men exchanged sly glances before laughing at her. Both were easily making the woman feel uncomfortable. Her general thinking was that perhaps they found humor in her English tongue, but on the other hand, she feared that this was devious laughter.

“You really should have a man accompanying you, little girl, maybe if you gave us your address we could escort you home...”

“Th- that won't be necessary,” she said with a fake smile.

An awkward moment of silence had occurred, the two were definitely up to something bad. Both men were staring at her, waiting for her to speak again or take action. The woman merely waited for the two to leave. After many moments of silence, the talkative man lowered his eyelids and put on a dull face, then looked up into her eyes with a quirked mouth.

“What's in the box?” he demanded.

This question seemed simple enough, yet, it was received very coldly by the woman. She grit her teeth and took one step back, just to have both men take a step forward. After swallowing and getting an especially innocent face, she secured the box more tightly within her grasp.

“It's honestly nothing of worth. Just a broken engine I hope to maybe fix...” She added onto her lie, “You could exchange this thing for a sandwich, _at best_. Probably not even a good sandwich.”

“An engine?”

“That's broke?” the other man asked.

“Yep, I- I'm just a desperate girl hoping to maybe get a good meal off of this thing. That's all!”

The original speaking man rubbed his chin with two lowered brows, his face conveyed doubt, but he played along, nonetheless, “Huh, I see... and how do you plan on sharing whatever you receive?”

The woman's eyes widened instantly, “Sh- sharing?”

Both men exchanged brief grins, “Well, su——ure! Down here in the Lower City, we're all family. And as family, we are obligated to share, don't you know?”

“But...”

The other man slapped her back gently, “Your money is our money, just as our money is your money! These are the rules of the Lower City, why don't you know this?”

Sensing a scam, the woman took another step back and shook her head negatively, “I'm still kinda new to the scene. I- I'll be sure to pay all of you back in the near future.”

At this time the woman found herself slowly backing away without stopping. The two men slowly walked with her. The original speaking man let out a somewhat heroic chuckle and shook his head negatively.

“Ah, but a future is something no one down here has. The lifespan of anyone down here is dangerously low. We need to all live for the day, and also, live it to the fullest...” The woman grit her teeth and backed herself into the wall of a building. Both men surrounded the trembling girl with grins. “It's only fair, given how little time us men have on the streets, that we get the benefit of some taxing, and...” The man struck his palm against the wall to her side and grinned, “Just a little 'gender specific' taxing...”

With a petrified look, the woman lowered the box to shield her breasts, then shook negatively, “...just let me go home...” she muttered desperately.

The man poked below her chin and tilted his head, “You'll make it home, as long as you satisfy the two of us brave warriors.”

The woman lowered her eyebrows sadly and dropped her jaw somewhat, “I- I don't...” she turned her head slightly, “I really don't want to... I can't!”

“We'll help you then,” he turned toward his companion and snickered, “Get the box out of her hands.”

The man to the left grabbed onto her box, but she fought back by keeping a tight grasp. The two fought for control over the box, however, the woman was scrawny and unhealthy, and thus lost control of the situation. She nearly fell forward as the box was seized by the taller man, who then carelessly tossed it aside. Another loud gasp came from the woman as she watch her 'dream' enter the air. The box landed very roughly and slid about a meter.

The woman's pupils began to quiver at the box with immense shock and rage. The shorter man quirked his mouth hostilely at the box and quipped, “Yo, be more careful, you might of destroyed the engine.”

This caused the woman to glare and grunt in fury, and within a furious moment, she locked her fist back and shouted, “You idiot!”

A powered punch was landed straight across the face of the shorter man. The man was quickly knocked down to his knees, his already torn up pants were even more damaged as a result. Two thin patches of blood formed over his knees, and with intense anger he stood back up.

“Dammit, I'm sick of you!”

Both men surprised their victim by pulling out pocket knives, the taller one proceeded to grab her arm, then put her in a locked grasp. She struggled and kicked her legs constantly in a plea to break free, despite the immense intimidation they had over her with the knives.

“G- get your hands off of me you pigs! You animals! You dirty-”

The shorter man growled and faced her, “Why don't you _shut up_!?”

He raised his knife above the collar of the woman's shirt and quickly slashed downward. She closed her eyes tightly, fearful of getting slashed, but merely found that her shirt had been split. She opened her eyes again and proceeded to tremble as he continued ripping down to the very brim of her shirt. She simply wasn't brave enough to fight back on the account that they both had weapons. The situation seemed hopeless for her.

With a final jerk of the knife, her shirt tore apart, revealing a large bra. The woman looked down at her chest for a moment, then looked away with a blush—humiliated. Both men dropped their grins, finding no pristine joy out of what they were preparing to do. To them, the violation of a defenseless woman was more so a job to them than a reward. Nonetheless, both were well prepared to do this without regret or shame.

The woman closed her eyes tightly while continuing to tremble greatly, but it was within that dark moment where relief struck. A third party had come to intervene.

“Leave it to the common street rapist to preserve the rich traditions of the common barbarian...” a mysterious voice echoed. Both men and the woman widened their eyes in shock. “Because by the end of the day, it would be unfitting to categorize one who violates and kills as anything less than a subhuman. Nothing but a mere stain on humanity's stitched blanket of progress...”

The two men paused what they were doing and scanned their surrounding for the anonymous voice. There was no one in the immediate area, leaving the two very confused. The man who had torn the woman's shirt grunted and scratched his head.

“Wh- what? Who's there?”

The mysterious man chuckled, “You have fifteen seconds to leave the woman, otherwise, I'll just have to liberate her in a less systematic way... Run or stay, you have fifteen seconds...”

The threat was taken with seriousness, yet, neither man appeared frightened. “Wh- where the Hell are you? Show yourself, coward!” the man demanded.

No response was given. The two sex offenders continued looking around for the mysterious man for several seconds, but ultimately saw no one. The voice, seemingly, was nothing more than what it was—a voice. The man continued to scratch his head with the tip of his blade up against the woman's bra, but momentarily shrugged with a smirk.

“Whatever, let's continue!” he muttered to the woman's face.

The woman grit her teeth frantically, “C- can't we talk things through? Shouldn't you be worrying about the fifteen seconds?”

“Bah, who cares what-”

CRACK!

The entire area had been illuminated brightly, almost in the same way as a lightning bolt. The facial expressions of the three were frozen in fear, but no facial expression was more priceless than that of the woman's. She merely wanted to go home, but instead, she now found herself in the center of some wild event. The man holding her gasped and widened his eyes in shock. He found that a splash of blood hit his shirt immediately after the loud crack.

“What the-”

The man who had torn her shirt now had a bullet in his neck, he constantly grunted while looking into the woman's eyes, but fell down dead momentarily. In response, the woman screamed slightly and looked down at the corpse. The man holding her looked up and gasped at the sight of a tall figure with a rifle standing on the rooftop. He stood in front of the moon, thus silhouetting his entire body. The only part of the man that could be seen through the silhouette were the two glowing white eyes of his visor.

“Dude, you just killed him!” the remaining sex offender panicked.

The dark figure proceeded to leap down onto the ground and somehow landed on his feet perfectly. Both the man and woman were amazed. The tall figure stood up straight, clearly showing that landing failed to break anything in his body. With a very fierce look, the man cocked his rifle back, thus ejecting a large shell from the barrel. He tilted his fedora up and smirked at the remaining criminal. The moon's reflection shined on his visor, a second later, his smirk had faded.

“I grow tired of your kind making humanity look like a group of wild animals. I've been dealing with your type for years. If you're a wild animal, that makes me the hunter…” The sex offender closed his teeth with two twitching eyes. “Tell me, how does it feel knowing that you're going to die? Despite the chance I gave you to run away.”

The man holding the woman trembled at the mere intimidation this man beared. This tall mysterious man offered fifteen seconds to leave, but instead, the offender had stayed in hopes of still forcing intercourse onto the young woman. Now the tables had completely turned, and it was indeed the knife bearer who would die along with his friend—whom had already paid the price.

“Answer me,” the Man of Darkness demanded. “Is the feeling of impending death cold? Frightening? Does it make you want to cry? Does it make you regret many things?”

The man gulped, “O- okay, what do you want from me?”

“I seek nothing more than your sinful life. Anyone who must force themselves onto a young girl mustn't breathe the same air as us normal individuals. Homeless or not, you are part of the problem. And now, only in the very end, do you realize the wrongdoing of your pitiful audacity and-”

All of a sudden, the young woman had surprised both men by screaming with watery eyes and jumping out of the sex offender's grasp. Like a bullet, she ran right into the tall Man of Darkness and wrapped her self around him. A struggle ensued between the victim and dark hero, meanwhile, the remaining sex offender took this opportunity to run.

“Oh, thank you so much for saving me these two were scaring me so much and I didn't think I'd ever see light or feel happiness again..!” she spoke _very_ quickly.

The Man of Darkness wiggled his body in an attempt to shake her, “G- get off of me!” he hissed.

He shook the woman off of him and immediately took aim, but ultimately grunted in shock. To his misfortune, the surviving sex offender had bolted out of sight. Without a lead on the man, there was nothing to be done. The girl was safe, but only one of two offenders were put down. Perhaps, though, this was for the best; as the surviving man could potentially live to change his lifestyle for the better.

The mysterious figure made no attempt to chase or shoot the man. He momentarily holstered his rifle onto his back and crossed his arms together.

The woman covered up her nearly revealed chest while exhaling in relief, “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. Blimey! I didn't think-”

“Ugh, jeez! That's a damn frustrating accent you've got there!”

She lowered her eyebrows and tilted her head in confusion, “Why? What's wrong with my accent?”

“That's probably the heaviest English I've heard in my life, and I used to live in Great Britain...”

“I see...” she muttered with a small frown.

“Did they hurt you at all?”

She dipped her head down with lowered eyelids, “No, they didn't, but they held me very hard...”

The man grabbed her box off the ground and gave it back, as they made the exchange he quirked his mouth with a raised brow, “This seems somewhat heavy for someone of your shape. Mind me asking what's inside?”

The woman scratched the back of her head while laughing silently, “Uh, well, it's kinda silly...”

The man nodded and pulled out a small device, then pressed down on a button. Within moments from pressing the button a noise could be heard coming their way. The young woman desired to see what the man was doing before she would leave. A few more seconds later, a very fast vehicle turned around a block and rushed toward them. The woman's eyes widened in shock as the vehicle came at an alarming speed.

The vehicle stopped in front of them, but had no passenger. It was beyond her knowledge as to how, but the vehicle appeared to have an autopilot feature connected to the man's device. The vehicle hovered about three feet above the ground and appeared to be designed for two passengers, one front and backseat. This was no ordinary vehicle. The title ' _Red Dove_ ' was seen on the side of the vehicle's body.

The young woman slapped her cheek and gasped, “Blimey! It's an F-Zero machine!” she blurted out in astonishment.

“Yep.”

The man seemed to have no further interest in sticking around for chatter, and so he had begun walking toward his F-Zero machine. The woman gasped as she held the box up above her chest.

“Wait, sir, sir!”

The man stopped and turned, then looked at the package she was bringing over to him. She appeared to be offering the man the box. This was a hard decision, especially since she had given up every last credit she owned, but she ultimately sighed and closed her eyes.

“I believe you could put this to better use than I,” she said handing the box over.

The man carefully opened up the box, he looked inside and grunted. The revelation of an F-Zero engine wasn't close to what he had predicted seeing. For a citizen of the Lower City, he presumed that she had been hiding a cake or pie inside the box. The fact that an engine of such expense was within her possession _completely_ changed his view of the woman.

She closed her eyes and smiled softly, “I sunk every last Federation credit I had into this engine. I even supercharged it all by myself. But seeing as to how I don't have any of the other needed parts to make a machine, please consider it a gift for saving me...”

The Man of Darkness rubbed his chin with a very intrigued expression. He examined the engine from left to right constantly while releasing many hums of varying emotion. Some hums sounded displeased, others very impressed. He looked back up at her with a raised brow.

“ _You_ supercharged this engine?”

The woman beamed proudly, “Yes, sir!”

“By yourself?”

“Mhm!”

He slowly looked back down at the engine and hummed yet again, “...without the help of a mechanic?”

“Well, sure! It wasn't that hard, all it took was some faith and steady calibration.”

Both brows of the man raised highly, he complimented the young woman by nodding constantly. Ultimately, however, he shot her a surprising response.

“This is a class C engine, it would only slow me down.”

The woman gasped and frowned having her gift denied. She began to tremble with a saddened look after having the box handed back to her. The man was looking into her eyes whilst continuing to rub his chin. Though the engine was of no use to him, he was seeing something in the woman that intrigued him—perhaps many things.

“You're wrong, I don't need it; but perhaps you could use it yourself one day...”

The man turned and got inside of his machine. He looked at her and pulled out a fairly large handgun. The woman widened her eyes and gasped.

“Bloody Hell, don't shoot me!”

 She prepared to leap onto the ground, believing for a moment that he would shoot her. Instead, the man threw the gun to her. She caught the handgun while also holding the large box, then looked down at the handgun in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Carry that from now on. This part of the city is messed up, don't even hesitate on pulling it out on someone if they threaten you.”

The woman moved her eyes to the left and lowered her eyelids in shame, “I will, sir. May I ask for your name?”

He hesitated to answer, then looked away from her. “Seppuku. Lieutenant Seppuku.”

She smiled, “Oh, Lieutenant Seppuku—kind of like Captain Falcon?”

The man felt no need to answer this question. He took one last look at her and grinned before pulling away from the curb, “We'll be in touch...”

“O- oh, great! My name is-”

The man drove off immediately after saying his name, clearly wanting nothing else from the young woman. She turned around and looked at the now dead criminal, only just realizing what she had just been through. Within mere minutes, someone had died right before her as a result of their immoral actions. She turned her head back toward the _Red Dove_ as it turned and went down a different street. There she stood with lacking expression, absolutely thankful for this mysterious and dark man's presence on this fateful night.

“Chiya Flower...” she finally answered.


	1. Lap 1

==Lap 2==

 

The young woman, Chiya Flower, found herself lying on a mattress in a trash covered room the following morning. She brushed her bangs away from her eyes and sat up slowly. After blinking cluelessly a few times, it had become apparent to her where she was. She was home, or at least what she considered to be home.

Chiya was a 23 year old without a job, yet, she had high hopes that good fortune would soon come. For the time being, the woman lived in an abandoned warehouse in the Lower City. The structure she resided in had no working appliances, not even a light. She was lucky enough to occasionally get her hands on a candle, but otherwise, the night brought about pitch darkness into her already dark enough life. One needn't argue that these were horrid living standards, but sadly, she still had life better than most Lower City citizens; most of who were forced to live together in dirty alleys.

With a powerful yawn, she got off the mattress and entered a restroom. Stripping down into nothing but her underwear, Chiya walked into a tub and grabbed a plastic deodorant bottle she had sitting near the faucet. The deodorant bottle, however, was full of pure water. With both eyes closed, she began to spray her body. She followed this same practice for washing her hands, which she rarely did anyway. Considering the difficulty of locating water, Chiya mustn't waste what she has. There was no soap to work with, but washing her body with water would at least kill a good majority of the germs and suppress part of her odor. Still, she had lived a better hygienic life than most citizens.

After 'showering', Chiya approached the mirror above the sink, which was still surprisingly clean—but cracked. With the tips of her fingers, she removed any ruffles in her hair and flattened it out. While combing, she raised an eyebrow and looked down at her chest with raised eyebrows.  It was only now that she realized one of few shirts had been destroyed. She was left with only so many articles of clothing to wear.

The ripped shirt was taken back off, and so she moaned, “What an awful night...”

Chiya left the restroom and changed her shirt, now wearing a similar gray turtleneck. Her usual attire consisted of a pale green stock hat, purple shorts, gray turtleneck, and a pair of boots—she had been wearing this same attire for years. Before leaving the warehouse she noticed the box containing the supercharged engine. Chiya had brought back an F-Zero engine, but the man she met yesterday going by the name of Lieutenant Seppuku stated that the engine was of no use to him, but could be of use to her.

With a somewhat frantic look, the woman entered brief thought. _Does he mean the engine is useless? Cause I spent all my money buying it..._ Chiya considered this for a few moments, then set the thought aside in place of something more exciting to her. The annual Grand Prix was to start today, the most anticipated sporting event of the year—aside from the final race. The grand opening to the annual Grand Prix would start in Mute City later on at night. Unfortunately for her, this first race was both expensive and taking place in the Upper City. She could, however, watch the race on screen at the only bar in the Lower City.

The annual Grand Prix was a sports season consisting of five randomly selected racing tracks, the winner of the Grand Prix would receive a golden trophy and one billion Federation credits. F-Zero was without a doubt the center of attention in Mute City. Chiya was one of the many obsessed fans of F-Zero and a diehard fan of Captain Falcon and his machine, the _Blue Falcon_. Anything could happen in F-Zero, as the Grand Prix permitted the entrance of the most corrupt and evil individuals. Dark hearted racers could compete without police interference, for the F-Zero committee had special rules in place that, essentially, ruled out the idea that the Federation owned them. In this sense, it is often said that F-Zero is its own nation with its own laws. Racers like Captain Falcon, however, would use the Grand Prix as an opportunity to fight these criminals on the track, as this was one of the easiest ways to get near bad individuals, such as Blood Falcon or Samurai Goroh.

Chiya finally left the warehouse and was on her way to the local bar. It was late in the afternoon, therefore she would likely not run into trouble this time. One of Chiya's toughest questions was where she would obtain the next parts for an F-Zero machine. The body, or chassis, of the machine would be very difficult to obtain, as this was not something that one could find in an ordinary junkyard. She required a body that could fit all of the machine parts, but unfortunately, the fact was that the woman came unqualified in the engineering field. If she had any hope of creating an F-Zero machine of her own, she'd need help eventually.

 

 

 

The bar that the woman was visiting had a drinking limit that only allowed a certain amount of alcohol to be sold per person to avoid over-intoxication. This rule was designed to help prevent bad scenarios from occurring on the already corrupt streets, much like the scenario Chiya recently found herself in. Regardless of the alcohol limit, this bar obtained much business whenever the annual Grand Prix would start. Not only could one watch the races on screen, but gambling stations were also set up.

Chiya entered the bar called, ' _Rough Odds_ ' with an almost frightened expression. Many individuals were inside the bar, despite the fact that the Grand Prix wouldn't kick off until later in the evening. The young woman silently sat down on a stool but did not wish to order anything yet. She was still traumatized by what had happened to her the previous night and simply needed time to cool down. Rough Odds was one of the few places she felt relaxed at, despite being surrounded by drunkards. Chiya, herself, was a strong advocate for prohibition, as she firmly believed that bars and taverns should only be for conversation and fun.

A loud sigh from the woman caught the eye of a gentleman sitting at a gambling station. An Asian face, brown hair, a thin beard, and a brown leather jacket; the man raised an eyebrow at the woman and smirked.

The bald bartender turned to face Chiya, then asked, “Can I get you anything?”

She lifted her chin up from the counter and faintly smiled, “M- maybe, some juice?”

“We're out of juice, gave it all to some children.”

Chiya nodded, then placed her chin back down while holding her stomach, “...bloody Hell...” she muttered.

Momentarily after putting her chin down, the man who had been staring at Chiya forced himself down next to her with a massive grin, “So—o, what's a pretty flower like you doing in a dark place like this?”

Chiya didn't offer much of a response, “Huh?”

She soon gazed at the man in confusion, the term ' _flower'_ threw her off because of her last name being of the same term. After studying the man for a few moments, she soon realized he was complimenting her. This wasn't uncommon for her, but in almost every occurrence it was merely a guy trying to score casual sex off of her—something she'd never partake in. The face that this man was giving was clearly fake and almost cheesy, and thus, she could expect no different intention. _Oh God, here we go…_ she thought with an irritated look. With both her eyes closed angrily, she revealed a fake smile.

“Oh, I couldn't possibly afford to go to an F-Zero race in person, so I come here to watch them for free. I also like to come here for juice. _That's it_. That's the only reason I come here, nothing more.”

The man smiled quickly. He could easily read the tenseness of her response, but didn't let this obstruct his objective. “Of course, no one living down here gets to see the races in person. The only people able to afford tickets are the upper class citizens, and even they don't get the luxury seats that others get. Considering the committee makes so much money, the entry fee is pretty sick, am I right?”

Chiya remained quiet for a few moments, she was contemplating whether the man was safe to get into a conversation with. She wasn't very trusting of men after the previous night, but this man didn't sound like a rapist, murderer, or thief; he genuinely sounded like a guy looking for either a girlfriend or person to have sex with. Chiya wasn't looking for either of these two things, and thus, she wouldn't do any of the two. As long as she restricted herself from dating or having intercourse, she was safe to talk with this man.

She dipped her head down and smiled with her eyes closed, “I always pictured that the races are amazing up close and that there's some kind of smell to it, a smell you would always remember.”

The man spun his beverage of alcohol around a little, “Smell, huh?” He looked up at her with yet another unrealistic smile, “Well you got that part right. Whenever those racing machines dart past, it's as if you can smell the speed.”

 _It's as if you can smell the speed_ … This sentence bounced around the walls of her head constantly. These simple words made the race sound incredible up close. Chiya always dreamed of seeing an F-Zero race in person, but could never make the money to fulfill this ultimate desire. Of course, _seeing_ an F-Zero race was at the bottom of her aspirations; for she wanted to one day take part in an F-Zero race.

Chiya exhaled with a smile, “I've always loved the smell that comes with opening an engine...” the man widened his eyes with puckered lips. “I've worked on engines for much of my life, and I've never gotten over the smell of a running engine—especially after you finish cleaning-”

The man grit his teeth in great surprise and brought his hand down, “Get out of here, you're into engineering!?”

“Sure! Just supercharged an engine last night. Only took me a minute or so. Didn't even need to touch the fan belt, piston, or carburetor.”

The man was left with a trembling lip and quivering eyes, he had instantly become lost in the unique blue eyes of the woman. After half a minute of awkwardly staring at the woman, he shook his head with a grin.

“My name's Earl Bendek, by the way...”

Chiya grabbed his hand and shook, “Pleased to meet you, Earl Bendek.”

For a moment, Earl became lost in her eyes again, still trying to get over the fact that he met a girl who held an interest in machinery. “Wow, gorgeous _and_ a fellow oil licker...” He looked away from her and continued, “...you must have a really proud boyfriend...”

She rolled her eyes away and hummed soundly, “Yes, well... I'm actually kind of the isolationist, you see, I'm not from around here...”

“I could tell by your eyes that you're an off-worlder. Those eyes are as attractive and majestic as the splashing waves of Big Blue...”

Chiya covered her mouth and turned her head slightly to block a blush. _Bloody Hell, this guy's good..._

Earl smirked and nodded at the woman, able to see the progress he was making very clearly. “You know, I do have a ticket into the race tonight, if you wanted I could try and bring you in with me...”

Chiya's eyes spun at the offer, the opportunity absolutely stunned her. Earl smirked at her, trying to appear cool as possible. This man she had only met moments ago was offering the best gift she could ever want for free. However, Chiya knew when something was too good to be true. _Right, where you'll bring me into an alley and mug me…_

With closed eyes and another fake smile, she swished her hand at the man. “I'm sorry. I'm positive that you're a great guy but I had a few issues last night with two men, and I would rather not get into any more messes.”

“Wh- what..!?” He forced his head down in embarrassment, “Oh no, no, no. Trust me, I understand. I _did_ kind of just insert myself into your comfort zone…” he said with a shell-shocked look.

“Sorry, I'm just too scared is all. See, I've always wanted to save myself for marriage, and-”

“Huh, wait, what? I'm not trying to-” Earl immediately chuckled and face palmed, “Oh my goodness...”

Silence ensued between the two, undoubtedly, this was an awkward moment for both young adults. Chiya wanted to give the man whatever he wanted, but she simply had to watch out for herself. Whether or not Earl actually saw something of romantic interest in Chiya or not was a mystery. In all fairness, she understood that her fairly large breasts was a lure for perverts and lustful men alike, so she couldn't simply jump into situations without thinking carefully.

Earl rubbed his chin for a moment then grinned as he quickly came up with a new plan, “Alright, you can have the ticket for yourself.” Chiya widened her eyes in immense shock, “But next time, you have to go with me, perhaps to the Casino Palace race?” Chiya swallowed while tapping her fingers down. “Think about it, I could buy you a drink, popcorn, maybe some candy...”

Though Chiya's brain would have prevented her from accepting the offer, her tight and empty stomach spoke for itself. She tapped her fingers more quickly while contemplating what to do. She could tell that he wasn't a criminal on the account that he had just offered her a very expensive ticket. But at the end of the internal debate, what Chiya had to keep in mind was that the decision to date the man was _her_ choice. In that sense, there was no sense in declining the offer.

“You're annoyingly persistent, Mr. Bendek,” she muttered with a grin. “However, I'm going to take you up on your offer.”

Earl grinned victoriously and handed her the ticket, “Excellent. It's all yours.”

The ticket she was given allowed access to the stands in the Mute City race track. Chiya held the ticket up in amazement, both eyes quivering in absolute awe. She observed every part of the ticket with glory, as if she had just won the raffle. Earl could tell that he had sealed the deal with her, having persuaded her like a cat with a treat.

“I- I don't know what to say!” she responded in shock.

“You're welcome. Next race, just meet me back here and I'll drive us to Casino P-” A pager Earl had clipped to his belt began to ring. He looked down at the pager, then looked back at her, “I have to go, my boss needs me...” he said as he began to back away from her.

Chiya nodded and waved farewell to him, she had somewhat of a blush on her face. Earl left the bar, and Chiya was now left flattered. Chiya hardly regarded the fact that she now had a date with a handsome guy, the race was truly all that mattered to her. She had no intentions of waiting around the bar, she needed to find a way to the track quickly. The race wouldn't start for quite a while, however, she would need to make her way to the Upper City without a vehicle. This in itself would be a great challenge.

 

 

Later that night, vehicles had begun rushing down to the race track. Chiya had ventured all the way up to the Upper City on foot. The sun had set minutes ago, thus leaving the Lower City nearly pitch black, but the Upper City illuminated with an orange glow. The trip to the Upper City had left Chiya exhausted, much of the travel was spent sprinting. Overall, the very last thing on her mind was how she would go about getting home.

Chiya had no idea how to enter the stadium, but momentarily spotted a door people appeared to be crowding around. She merged into the large crowd of people, then found a line ahead of her. There was an F-Zero official collecting tickets up front.

Through five minutes of waiting Chiya had given the official her ticket and moved toward the massive stadium door. She was astonished to see how many people were wandering the stadium hallways. It was a fairly humiliating realization for the woman that she looked nothing like the many wealthy fans surrounding her. Most fans were either from the Upper City, other cities, or even other planets of the universe. Chiya's clothing was much more bland, yet, unique in its own way.

At long last she found the door leading to the millions of seats. She entered and widened her eyes. Behind the door revealed all of the chairs, there were thousands of people in this area—a nightmare for a socially lacking person such as Chiya. With a look of immense shock, she took a seat and looked down at the track. The track was not yet lit up with lights. Everything felt like a dream to her; the music, the people, the track, everything she dreamed of was in front of her and each thing left her absolutely amazed.

 

 

About an hour passed since her arrival, and during that time she had learned there was an installed cantina in the vicinity, the track was a place of amazement for her. Even after an hour Chiya still felt her heart beat rapidly, even though she was sitting still. She looked back and forth between the track with a smile, but soon found herself frowning in shame.

_This is the greatest gift I've ever received; yet, I turned down Earl's request to go with him. How selfish of me..._

Chiya's eyes closed for a moment, but then came a bright and determined look, “I'll be certain to go with him next time.”

Music then began to play and the fans cheered. It was at long last time to introduce the racers, and the only one more ready for the race than the racers was Chiya Flower. Chiya clenched one fist excitedly, bit on the other hand, and bounced on her rear a few times. The track was lit up with lights and the intercom began to buzz.

The committee announcer spoke, “Ladies and gentlemen! The F-Zero committee would like to thank you for attending yet another annual Grand Prix. The season returns and one racer is to leave with one billion credits!”

Chiya widened her eyes in awe, “That's a lot of money!”

“We will now introduce the contestants!”

A large orange F-Zero machine was bulking its way up the track. The body was shaped like a shell with four triangular spikes erecting off the roof. This was the _Wild Boar_.

“Leader of the notorious Lower City gang, the Bloody Chain; Michael Chain!”

The machine stopped just short of the starting line. The very enormous dark skinned man known as Michael Chain got out of his machine and flexed toward the fans. Michael Chain was an extremely muscular man—some speculation to be on steroids. He was bald but full of pride, worse shades, and hanging from his neck was a large golden necklace made of chains. Michael Chain was regarded as one of many 'bad' racers, as he lacked both morals and good intentions.

“The living cyborg, he can calculate paths, maneuvers, and attacks faster than any human on the track; Mighty Gazelle!”

The cyborg drove the _Red Gazelle_ up to the starting line and stopped beside Michael Chain. He remained inside of his machine choosing not to acknowledge his many fans. Mighty Gazelle was once a fully human man who fell victim to an F-Zero event known as the 'Great Accident'. The end result reduced the man into nothing more than a charred corpse, but he survived through intensive care and made a return as the Mighty Gazelle—humanity's greatest cyborg.

“Created in a lab by the outlaw, Black Shadow; he is Captain Falcon's clone and blood rival; Blood Falcon!”

The _Blood Hawk_ was the machine of the notorious Blood Falcon—dark clone of Captain Falcon created by a master of evil. He quickly parked next to the other machines. Even without exiting his machine, it was clear that he was unleashing one of his classic evil laughs to himself. Blood Falcon wore the same type of clothing as Captain Falcon: A leather suit, metal boots, metal gauntlets, shoulder pad, scarf, and a helmet with visor—just like Lieutenant Seppuku's. The main difference was that Blood Falcon beared a red suit, silver boots, purple gloves and helmet, and a yellow scarf. To finalize his unique appearance, he had had a skull crest over his helmet, rather than a falcon.

“A living legend, bounty hunter, and returning Grand Prix champion; Captain Falcon!”

Captain Falcon made his way onto the track in the _Blue Falcon_. Several fans cheered at the sight of the _Blue Falcon_ , clearly, he had the most respect in the entire stadium. Chiya felt her heart beat especially fast at the sight of Captain Falcon. This man was her childhood crush for many reasons, but most of all, the bulging muscles of his person. Chiya lowered her eyelids, smiled, and grasped her cheek as she exhale passionately.

“The man of isolation and mystery, on no one's side; Lieutenant Seppuku!”

Chiya released a loud gasp at the sight of the _Red Dove_ , Lieutenant Seppuku's F-Zero machine. She had no idea that the man who saved her actually competed in the Grand Prix. _Oh my God, it's him! He's an F-Zero racer..!?_ Chiya grit her teeth in amazement and held both sides of her head in awe.

Seppuku did not give any recognition to the F-Zero fans. He simply drove up to the starting line and parked beside the _Blue Falcon_ and _Blood Hawk_.

The homeless woman remained seated with widened eyes and a beating heart. The excitement of being here especially came with the fact that she'd see Captain Falcon race; little did she know up until now, Seppuku, her savior, was racing as well. However this race turned out, Chiya knew one thing to be true; Lieutenant Seppuku would be the one she pays most attention to.


	2. Lap 2

==Lap 3==

 

The race was about to begin. Minutes after Seppuku had been introduced all other racers were called up to the starting line. The crowd was out of control, throwing things, screaming, and even some fights emerging in the crowd. The only famous racer not present was the notorious Black Shadow, which was of no surprise. Black Shadow, well known as the emperor of Dark Million, had been banned from the annual Grand Prix due to his dangerous pagan beliefs and past crimes. He was the first and only racer to have been banned from F-Zero. Either way, Black Shadow had his clone minion, Blood Falcon, racing on his behalf.

“At this time all racers may start their engines!” the announcer yelled.

All of the F-Zero machines turned on, they lifted a few feet off the ground. Chiya's eyes widened as the rear rockets of each machine gradually began to flare. Three floating monitors came above the starting line, each monitor displayed the number '3'. This was it, the start of the annual Grand Prix.

Three. Two. One. Go.

All thirty-some of the F-Zero machines darted past the starting line, officially marking the start of a new Grand Prix. Monitors turned on near the stands so that the fans could see where the racers were throughout the race. Chiya sat up straight with a dropped jaw and watched each racer go out of sight, then turned her attention toward the many large monitors.

The _Red Gazelle_ took off with the lead, but had the _Crazy Bear_ coming up from behind. Captain Falcon appeared to be in 7 th, while Seppuku was in 15th. The _Blue Falcon_ employed a simple strategy of racing and dodging racers, while the _Red Dove_ played a more aggressive game of bumping through rivaling racers.

Chiya observed Captain Falcon carefully to take lessons from him. The way Captain Falcon maneuvered the track was very professional, using tactics and overall strategy with his turns while also keeping an eye on his rivals, namely Blood Falcon. Lieutenant Seppuku drove through the other racers like a bullet and knocking himself up to 10th place. Seppuku appeared to be rivaling against Captain Falcon, considering he bumped into the _Blue Falcon_ especially rough. The _Blue Falcon_ 's maximum speed was briefly turned up in order to escape the _Red Dove_. The _Red Dove_ appeared to have worse stats than the _Blue Falcon_ and was lighter in weight.

Seppuku was gaining ground on Falcon, despite his inferior machine parts. The lieutenant had another machine coming up from the rear. Seppuku was almost neck-and-neck with Captain Falcon, when suddenly the _Blood Hawk_ sped up next to the two and rammed both racers violently. Captain Falcon quickly drifted back into the correct direction, but Seppuku had taken a few seconds to regain control of his machine.

The crowd booed Blood Falcon for his surprise attack, Chiya was left glaring with crossed arms; upset to see both her childhood hero and literal hero attacked.

“I hate Blood Falcon,” Chiya told herself.

Seppuku was sent to the back again as a result of this attack, several racers had now passed him. However, Seppuku did not take long to make his way up the track again. At this time the racers had completed their first lap. Once a racer makes it past the first lap, they are authorized to use their machine's _boosters_. By sacrificing about 15% of their machine's energy, a racer could shoot themselves forward by releasing an incredible amount of energy from the rear. The drawback of using boosters was that with a usage of about 15% energy per boost, the machine could quickly find itself at a severe loss of energy, which would in turn make the machine more vulnerable to shutting down or 'retire'. A machine would shut down if the energy tank was completely depleted, and worst of all, energy was also taken away from a machine when damaged from attacks.

The _Red Dove_ used much energy to boost up the track, though Seppuku watched his energy meter. Blood Falcon and Captain Falcon met each other again, this time both were well aware of each other's presence. Captain Falcon quickly moved to the side and attempted to ram Blood Falcon, but failed. Blood Falcon took up the opportunity and tried to counter-attack, but Captain Falcon performed a spin that blocked Blood Falcon's attack. This knocked Blood Falcon two racers in back of Captain Falcon.

The move Captain Falcon used was simply coined a 'spin attack'. This was where a machine could perform a very powered up spin while still moving forward—but at a reduced speed. This was an excellent move to make when in trouble, as a spin attack could only be blocked by another spin attack. The relative of a spin attack was the 'side attack'. This was the most powerful move a racer could make, where the machine would suddenly slide left or right at about 4,000 km/h. It was the equivalent of throwing a punch and could often serve as instant death to the victim's machine.

The _Big Fang_ performed a side attack on the _Red Gazelle,_ and was then passed by the _Crazy Bear_. The _Blue Falcon_ flew past the _Big Fang_ as well. The _Red Dove_ was gaining on Captain Falcon once more, but was soon confronted by the brutal gang leader, Michael Chain. Both racers challenged one another by attacking the other. Seppuku and Chain simultaneously clashed machines together. Countless sparks were thrown into the air. Chain backed away from the _Red Dove_ and began to tail the machine, planning to ram Seppuku from the rear. Seppuku made the quick decision to perform a spin attack and quickly hit the brakes. Chain ran straight into his trap and took heavy damage. The _Wild Boar_ was propelled and knocked onto its side. Once again, Seppuku fell behind the other racers but quickly moved up the track.

An F-Zero commentator struck his fists down, “The Wild Boar has been retired from the race! What do you think about pilot Chain's attempt to take Seppuku out?” the announcer asked his partner.

“Well you see, Chain made a bad move on his part. The Wild Boar and Red Dove both have similar bodily features, making it seem like both would have similar weak points. Chain didn't capitalize on this correctly, and now he'll be paying the price by leaving the race with zip points. What racers often forget when challenging another racer is that they need to multitask and stay focused on the race! This is a race, after all, not a demolition derby!”

“Obviously Michael Chain will have gotten a terrible start to the Grand Prix, automatically being granted with no points.”

All racers made it past their second lap and were now entering the final lap. Captain Falcon was gaining ground on the _Fire Stingray_ , which was currently holding first place. The _Fire Stingray_ was piloted by Samurai Goroh, a longtime rival of Captain Falcon. Falcon found himself getting boxed in by enemies, the _Blood Hawk_ had made it to third place, and as always, focused on trying to kill Captain Falcon. Goroh and Blood Falcon appeared to be working together indirectly to smash the _Blue Falcon_ , but suddenly, the _White Cat_ and _Red Dove_ came up and engaged the other racers. Seppuku smashed into Goroh and was pushing him slowly to the side of the track. The _Red Dove_ scraped the _Fire Stingray_ against the safety railing then boosted away. Blood Falcon counter-attacked the _White Cat_ successfully and stayed on the _Blue Falcon_. The _Blue Falcon_ and _Red Dove_ were driving next to each other. Captain Falcon nodded to Seppuku in appreciation for the assistance, though Seppuku disregarded the gesture.

The _Blood Hawk_ had caught up with the leading racers, but this time changed targets. He was now directing himself toward the _Red Dove_ , seeing Seppuku as a potential threat. Seppuku saw Blood Falcon moving to his right, but found Captain Falcon accidentally boxing him in, as he was to the left, and thus not allowing any room to evade a potential Blood Falcon strike. Fuming with frustration, Seppuku smashed his hand down against the dashboard and slowed down, thus allowing Blood Falcon and Captain Falcon to go at each other again.

Seppuku immediately picked up the speed, but was already passed by the _White Cat_ and _Deep Claw_. Blood Falcon and Captain Falcon were struggling to defeat each other, both dashing into each other constantly. Blood Falcon didn't hesitate to start smashing into him like some deranged brute. The _Blood Hawk_ pinned the _Blue Falcon_ to the side of the track and was preparing for a massive side attack, a side attack that would likely strike Captain Falcon out of the race. As soon as the _Blood Hawk_ moved toward the _Blue Falcon_ for the side attack, Captain Falcon boosted out of the way. Blood Falcon ended up side attacking the safety rail of the track.

The _Red Dove_ managed to pass the _Deep Claw_ but could not gain enough speed to pass the _White Cat_. He was too late, the finish line was up ahead, which Captain Falcon had victoriously passed through in 1 st place. Blood Falcon followed the man and finished in 2nd.

The crowd went out of control, “That's it for the first race! Captain Falcon takes first! Blood Falcon second, Jody Summer third, Lieutenant Seppuku fourth, and Octoman taking fifth,” the announcer listed.

Captain Falcon waved to his cheering fans with a happy grin. Blood Falcon grinned with his razor sharp teeth at his victorious rival. Captain Falcon looked back to the clone and returned an expressionless look. Blood Falcon couldn't physically attack Captain Falcon inside of a race—the rules of F-Zero prohibited violence within their property, _excluding_ violence found within the race itself. The Galactic Space Federation had no jurisdiction within racetracks, hence why they couldn't simply arrest people like Blood Falcon. F-Zero had its own set of laws and the F-Zero committee enforced these laws.

Captain Falcon drove away from the track with the others following him. Lieutenant Seppuku, despite having finished in 4th place, took his time in leaving and ended up way in the back.

Chiya was stunned at how dangerous the race had gotten. It was clear to her that the F-Zero committee didn't care that attempted murder had occurred on the track several times, F-Zero was a sport where anything could happen—no matter how violent. The questions now juggling in her mind pertained to Lieutenant Seppuku, more specifically, where the man would go now.

           

 

 

Chiya was walking away from the stands with a sent back expression. The race was short, but amazing. This was something she always wanted to experience as a child, teenager, and still as a young adult. The only way this could be better is if she herself one day races.

While on her way to the exit, the woman came to a complete stop and gasped. Her eyes began to quiver as she gazed toward the door. Captain Falcon stood by the door looking straight into her eyes. She gazed at him in astonishment, baffled by his appearance and look of interest in her. He approached her with a warm and promising grin.

“C- C- Captain Falcon!?” she squealed with a quivering smile.

Captain Falcon grabbed the side of her face and knelt down before her, “My sweet Chiya Flower. I've longed for the day I could meet you face-to-face, and now my dream has been fulfilled...”

Chiya gasped at him while trembling and blushing. She was speechless by what was going on—what was happening to her.

“Come with me, so we can live a happy life away from racing, in a meadow of flowers. And with all the cutest kittens to hold,” he said following a kiss to her hand.

Chiya began to grunt and squirm excitedly, then giggled intensely while bouncing.

 

 

 

Suddenly, Chiya launched up onto her rear. She began to hyperventilate with wide eyes and scan her surroundings. After an exciting night of F-Zero, she was back in the warehouse and laying on her mattress. Unfortunately, she had only dreamed of Captain Falcon approaching her that race. Disappointed, Chiya lowered her eyelids and sighed while looking at the garbage that surrounded her. She had watched her first F-Zero race in person last night, then went home for immediate sleep. None of it seemed real, but it was, she was there and the stories were true that F-Zero could get very dangerous.

The woman put her beanie hat on and looked into the bathroom mirror sadly. Gazing at her own face she sighed, “I can't keep living like this…”

Chiya walked out of the bathroom with a feeling of depression. The race was great, but this still didn't get her out of fiscal depression. She fell back onto her mattress and sighed once more. While gazing up at the ceiling, a thought had crossed her mind. She momentarily reached over for the handgun Seppuku lent her and examined it. She was looking at the model and ammunition of the weapon—and then it hit her.

With a raised brow and quirked mouth, she commented, “Hold on a second. This looks too powerful to be meant for civilian use...”

Chiya knew very little about guns, but even she could tell when a gun was designed for the military. Hesitantly, she put the clip back into the handgun and spotted some scrap wood laying in the building. Still laying down, she flipped onto her belly and took aim at some of the wood. She turned off the safety and cocked the gun back with her tongue out. Her aim was very wobbly, but good enough to hit a target at such a short range. She closed one eye, then pulled the trigger.

CRACK.

She fired the weapon, which caused her to jump up to her knees frantically with widened eyes. This made a louder sound than she was accustomed to hearing on the streets. The bullet had torn through the wood and left an unusually large hole, the lone bullet nearly snapped the wood in half.

“What the Hell? This _must_ be for military use,” she concluded aloud. Chiya was now trembling after firing the loud weapon.

This time she fired blankly at the stone wall and observed the dealt damage. The bullet left a deep hole with surrounding cracks. 

“Where did he get this?”

She widened her eyes and grunted upon recalling the weapon Lieutenant Seppuku had used. He didn't use a common hunting rifle, he had something much more powerful—something that left his victim dead within mere seconds. One would never be able to purchase such a powerful rifle off of any ordinary store. The gun Chiya had was illegal, and she knew this to be true.

“What is he doing with this stuff?” she questioned aloud.

She holstered the gun in her shorts and walked outside. As usual, she was going to start her day off by bringing herself to Rough Odds. This time, though, she had a legitimate reason for going to Rough Odds. She was almost praying that she'd bump into Earl Bendek again, as she was now both interested in him and desired to thank him for the ticket.    

Her walk to Rough Odds was simple and uneventful. However, while walking she noticed that the streets were littered with paper, food, and other junk, as everyone had let loose the previous night, not caring about keeping a city clean. Everyone loved F-Zero, even the criminals of the Lower City.

She walked inside the bar and looked high and low for the seemingly friendly man, but had no luck scanning for him. Earl was nowhere to be found, meaning she'd either bump into him at a later date or on the Casino Palace date. She hadn't considered that with Earl, she'd be seeing the next race as well; this made her just as excited, but also nervous to go with a complete stranger.

 While she couldn't find Earl, her eyes did catch someone else of grand significance. The woman grunted loudly with wide eyes. It was Lieutenant Seppuku. The Man of Darkness was playing a card game with fellow F-Zero racer; Baba—pilot of the _Iron Tiger_.

Baba laughed mockingly at Seppuku and snapped his fingers, but was silenced with a growl from the tall man. The two seemed to be in the middle of a heated up game of cards, but possibly in a friendly mood. Chiya could finally speak with Seppuku for the first time since her frightening encounter in a more comfortable setting. The question she had, of course, was whether or not she wanted to. She didn't know a single thing about Seppuku, in fact, it was highly possible that the man could be a servant of evil.

Chiya gasped and swallowed nervously while deciding what to do. But what was at first a choice had suddenly become mandatory, as their eyes met. The glowing white eyes of Seppuku's visor locked adjacently with Chiya's Mysterian Blue eyes. Seppuku's intimidating gaze was pulling her in like a magnet. She began walking toward him, thus eliminating the choices for her. She was going to enter the table with Seppuku and finally learn who he was.


	3. Lap 3

==Lap 4==

 

Seppuku caught her eyes, there was no turning back on the man now. Chiya could have simply sat down at the counter, but it was too late, she already found herself walking toward Seppuku and Baba as if she were being pulled in. The Man of Darkness revealed the smallest grin as she approached the two, able to tell that the young woman wanted an audience with him. Just as Chiya came up to the table, Seppuku turned his attention back toward Baba.

“I forfeit.”

Baba raised an eyebrow, “You realize we threw two hundred credits on the table?”

Seppuku nodded affirmatively, “Yes, just take the money and go.”

Baba smirked and swiped the pile of credits off the table, “Your loss, fool!” He then walked away from the table.

Seppuku smacked his lips around while watching the man walk, then glanced at Chiya.

Chiya rubbed her foot in shy circles, but gained enough courage to grab the chair Baba had gotten out of, “Can I sit here?”

“Go for it.”

She sat down at the table with Seppuku, but was afraid to look into his eyes. Chiya had no idea what to ask him first, so she broke the ice, “So, you got fourth place. That was really good!”

The man shrugged, “I guess, the Red Dove could use better boosters.”

Seppuku stood up from his seat and dug around in his coat pocket; he pulled out a wallet, planet passport, some money, a bullet, and a printed image. Chiya stared at the bullet as it rolled along the table, confused as to why the man would carry this around. She then jolted up with a startled look as Seppuku slammed the printed image in front of her. The image consisted of various photos of the _Red Dove_ in different angles, the photos were taken somewhere after the first race.

The man's finger poked down on a rear view photo, specifically at the boosters of his machine, “See that?”

Chiya took a few moments to examine the photo and soon spotted a dent in the left booster, “Yes sir, dented booster.”

“The damn Blood Hawk barely touched me, yet, my booster was completely wrecked.” Seppuku tilted his fedora to hide his visor, “Basically what I'm saying is that those boosters are just play things, not competition worthy. This was a mistake on my mechanic's part.”

Chiya hesitantly poked her finger down on a photo and looked up at him. “I see the left flank of your machine was damaged as well. That must have made it hard to drift.”

Seppuku growled, “What..?”

The girl widened her eyes and fell back into her seat trembling in response to his fierce attitude. Seppuku tilted his hat back up and looked into her scared eyes. He changed his angered expression into a grin and performed a silent clap for her.

“Well done, not even I noticed that.”

Chiya smiled with pride, “Thank you, F-Zero has always been a fascination to me. I was raised in a place with little to do.”

An extensive moment of silence followed as Seppuku gazed deep into her eyes, Chiya's smile was weak and shaky, especially with the awkward silence. The man very slowly grinned and hummed positively, having discovered something about her.

“Your eyes are blue as the sky...” Chiya lowered her eyebrows and smiled more nervously. The man then leaned forward with an almost interrogative look, “And your hair is gold as an F-Zero trophy...”

The woman dipped her head down while trembling somewhat, she nodded while rubbing her slightly sweating forehead, “Th- thank you...”

Seppuku crossed his fingers together, now finding the girl hiding her eyes from sight. Within mere moments, the man had quite possibly uncovered a unique secret from the young woman. With more moments of silence following, Chiya briefly glanced up at him, then looked away quickly. Now he was certain that she was trying to hide her eyes.

“Mysterian Blue...” Seppuku answered.

“Uh..!”

“You're a Mysterian, aren't you?”

The woman grit her teeth in panic and looked at him, “Uh, I- I might have some relatives from that planet...”

The man chuckled softly while shaking his head, “Impossible. You are not of the five human races, you are a pure bred Mysterian. Not Asian, not Caucasian, only Mysterian.”

Chiya lowered both her eyebrows almost hostilely and smacked both fists down on the table, “H- how could I be from Mysteria? It is illegal for citizens of Mysteria to leave their planet! How would I have gotten off of the planet if this were true?”

The man cracked another grin, “ _Exactly_ my point...”

The woman puckered her lips for a moment, then face palmed. Her knowledge on the planet's laws practically sold her out. Seppuku chuckled and pat her back.

“Don't worry, I've no reason to send you back. Just curious how a Mysterian got all the way to a Federation planet. The Mysterian Empire isn't exactly a good friend of the Galactic Federation.”

Chiya finally sighed and nodded, “I snuck away from the planet a little more than five years ago. Fled to Earth by sneaking onto an embassy ship. I've been a bum in Mute City ever since.”

“Interesting...” He rubbed his chin with a smirk, “A Mysterian; I should have guessed from the moment I saw your skin color.”

Chiya raised her arm up with a raised brow, “What's wrong with my skin?”

“The Mysterian skin tone is pale and pink, almost albino.” He shrugged and pointed at her face, “But aside from the skin, you've got the eye color that only a Mysterian comes with, and of course, the pale blonde hair.”

She nodded understandingly, “Do you hate Mysterians?”

He shook his hands negatively, “Not I, but others may not be so understanding. Mysterians are often regarded as the warmongering race, but of course, this is merely a stereotype.”

The woman glared, “Us? The warmongers!? That's ridiculous! The Federation were the ones to pillage our planet! They're the warmongers!”

The man let out a single chuckle, “Ah, well... Should've expected that you're a brainwashed drone to your oppressive government...”

“What do you mean?”

Seppuku dropped his smirk and shook negatively, “Anyways, I've been to Mysteria a few times in the past, mostly to race. But no one likes racing on your track.”

“Mist Flow?”

He laughed, “Yes, Mist Flow. No one likes that track.”

“Why not?”

“The fog, it's unbearable, plain and simple. Any attempt to attack a racer through that thick fog is a deathtrap waiting to-”

A horrific scene interrupted Seppuku, as suddenly, an explosion erupted behind him. The wall behind them had instantly been blown open. Smoke filled the entire bar as patrons proceeded to scream. Chiya had fallen to the floor, but was fortunately unharmed. She got on her knees and looked up, but was unable to see anything past the smoke.

“Help!” she screamed.

Seppuku stood up from the ground and calmly brushed off his coat, “How rude, I was having a conversation...”

Through the smoke momentarily came three large muscular men, all bodybuilders with muscle shirts. The center bodybuilder had an enormous display of egoism on his face—it was Michael Chain and his goons. The three were holding AKP-55 assault rifles, a futuristic variant of the AK-47.

Chain approached the now fallen gambling table and let out a heavy laugh, “Lieutenant Seppuku! So sorry, sir; that was meant to kill you!”

Seppuku stood perfectly still while Chiya trembled in fear of the gangsters. Despite having lived in the Lower City for more than five years, this was the first time she had ever seen one of the two major Lower City gangs. Coincidentally, the first gangster she had ever seen was the Bloody Chain leader himself.

Chain stomped his foot down with great pressure, then pointed at Seppuku with a thick finger. Chiya dropped her jaw at the sight of his finger.

“My goodness! I'm pretty sure that finger is as big as my foot!” Everyone, including Seppuku, turned their attention toward Chiya; this caused her to close her lips with wide eyes, “J- just saying... please, carry on...”

Chain looked at Seppuku and growled, “Well, Seppuku! That race was within my reach before you stole it from me!”

The Man of Darkness sarcastically chuckled, “Oh, well, sorry for having the superior F-Zero handling. You win some just as you lose some, get over it, punk.” Seppuku then removed his hat and brushed his fairly long hair back, “Or are you just pissed that I still have majestic hair?”

“I had that race buckled down-” Chain interrupted himself to growl, then muttered, “...I'll have you know, baldness is cool as ice if you have the right attire to go with it...” Seppuku and Chiya exchanged momentary glances, Chain then shook a fist, “That race was going well in my favor until you took things too far! I would of won if it weren't for you and your floating ' _Red Dumpster_ '!”

Seppuku continued to chuckle sarcastically as pieces of the roof fell around the five.

“Oh please, even if I hadn't been in that race you would've gotten your ass kicked by Captain Falcon, or maybe even someone as pathetic as Baba.” Chain grinded his teeth with increasing tension. Seppuku was clearly failing to become intimidated, despite the fact that Chain had an assault rifle aimed at him. “Now why don't you just drop those toys of yours and go work out some more,” Seppuku proposed before poking Chain in the ribs.

The gang leader continued to shake angrily, “I- I- I've had enough of this!”

Without further exchanging of words, Chain fired a single bullet through Seppuku's chest. The bullet sent Seppuku down onto the floor bleeding, though his facial expression didn't change in the slightest. Chiya dropped her jaw and looked down at Seppuku in fear, she was in deep trouble. The woman then looked up at Chain and gasped loudly, she was easily outnumbered by three.

The gang leader raised his assault rifle up with shining teeth of pride, “Hey, little girl. Hope that wasn't your daddy, cause he's on his way to the finish line.”

Chiya gasped again with a stunned look, her eyes quivered in absolute fear. Ultimately, she had but one resolution. Without thinking through her options, she pulled out her handgun while the three laughed and quickly plugged a bullet into the bodybuilder's chest. Chain was sent back about two meters. He grasped his chest in pain. Somehow, though, the thickness of his body had caught the bullet like a vest.

“S- stupid girl!” he said lifting his assault rifle up.

But to Chain's surprise, Chiya had vanished. His two associates had been looking at Chain, neither of the three saw where she went. Chain growled and flailed his arms in the air.

“Let's get out of here, boys! Before the cops get here!”

Chain and his goons departed out of the building, leaving a room filled with smoke and debris. Chiya popped her head up from behind the fallen gambling table, then gazed in horror at a bleeding Seppuku. The man's face remained calm.

“Seppuku! Lieutenant Seppuku!”

The man remained still and made unclear responses. Chiya grasped his coat and shook him constantly; clear sparks of life were still present in his body. While continuing to shake her, the sound of jingling metal could be heard coming from below her. She widened her eyes, looked down, and discovered something in his hand. The key to the _Red Dove_.

The girl grunted with a motionless face. _Is he hinting for me to get him to his machine..?_ She clicked a button on the key and almost instantly the _Red Dove_ drove from the parking lot to the front door with the autopilot feature. Chiya tried lifting Seppuku up, but ultimately had to carry him over her back, for she was not a strong or healthy person.

“Come on, sir; you have many races left to win!”

She managed to carry Seppuku outside the building, but was struggling to keep him over her shoulder. Police sirens could be heard in the distance, but she knew that the police would only hold her up if she didn't leave immediately. Seppuku needed to reach a hospital quickly.

“Sir, sir! You have to drive to the hospital!” she yelled after placing him against the _Red Dove_.

A drop of blood trickled down his mouth, “You…” he muttered.

Chiya dropped to her knees and held his wound while at the same time trying to keep blood from making contact with her hand.

He managed to exhale, now able to breathe without all the smoke in the air, “You need to drive me back to my place,” he faintly made out to her.

A shock went through her body at the request for her to drive racing machine. She hadn't driven a normal vehicle for many years, now she was expected to drive an F-Zero machine, “I- I don't-”

Seppuku interrupted her with a loud grunt, “Shut up. Don't think, just do it.”

“B- but-”

“Are you prepared to watch me die on your account..?”

Her eyes widened, “No!”

“Drive...”

Chiya found her options very limited. Either she drove the machine or let him bleed to death. She exhaled in immense frustration, but ultimately decided to put him in the passenger seat. She then leapt into the cockpit and scouted the dashboard for the ignition. She found it and inserted the key, lights lit up all over the cockpit upon doing so. A large GPS device turned on above the dashboard with several bookmarked locations, one being labeled ' _Home'_.

“Home?”

Seppuku nodded slightly while biting his teeth down. For whatever the reason, the man insisted that she bring him back to his home, rather than a hospital.

Chiya enabled directions to Seppuku's homestead and put her foot on the accelerator. She began to accelerate after swallowing down her emotions. They took off from Rough Odds slowly, as she typically feared how challenging this would be. Chiya had driven vehicles before, but F-Zero machines were much different than the ordinary hovercraft. The _Red Dove_ was moving at a fast pace already, which delivered the feeling as though she were driving a lightning bolt down the street. She would need to make a turn at an intersection in a few moments.

The Mysterian widened her eyes, having just remembered the report she gave on the damaged flank, which would make turning right possibly a challenge. Chiya slowed down at the intersection and took an easy turn. Indeed, turning was difficult with the damaged machine, but she completed the turn without an issue. Chiya exhaled in relief, now realizing that piloting the machine wouldn't be as hard as she thought. The real issue at hand was Seppuku's declining condition. She had to drive fast.

Unknowingly to her, however, Seppuku continued to watch her with an almost intrigued look. He nodded his head with a grin, then rested his head back.

           

           

 

Chiya had been driving for about two minutes now, simply driving down a long road. All had been calm until now, where a bright flash briefly blinded her. The flash came from her side view mirror. She widened her eyes and grunted upon looking into the left mirror. The headlights of three pursuing vehicles were blinding her, but momentarily turned off. To her horror, the _Wild Boar_ and two identical gray machines were on her trail. Michael Chain wasn't through with Seppuku.

“B- Bloody Hell!” she panicked.

Chain laughed while gaining on the machine, “Don't let that fool, Seppuku, escape alive!”

The three machines were attempting to trap the _Red Dove._ Michael Chain was trying to move in front of the _Red Dove_ while his goons would cover both sides. They believed that Seppuku was the one piloting the _Red Dove_ , not Chiya. But no one would argue if they killed both.

“Oh no, oh dear!” Chiya panicked frantically.

Chiya had gotten the hang of F-Zero piloting, but she wasn't ready to take on F-Zero combat. Against an ace like Michael Chain, Chiya was in severe trouble.

Just as the _Wild Boar_ prepared to move in front of the _Red Dove_ , something came dashing in at incredible speed. It was the _Blue Falcon_. A Bloody Chain goon was side attacked and propelled into a building by Captain Falcon. Chain slammed his fists down on the dashboard in anger at Captain Falcon's intervention.

“Screw it, this is too much to chew on!”

The _Wild Boar_ did a very sharp spin and retreated with his lone ally. Chiya widened her eyes and gasped as the _Blue Falcon_ followed her. This wasn't a dream. The _Blue Falcon_ continued to follow the _Red Dove_ for a few seconds before spinning around to pursue Chain. Chiya exhaled in relief as they were now out of danger and approaching the destination. Chiya took a few moments to catch her breath and brush off what had just happened. She could recollect what had happened later, there were bigger matters to attend to.

“How are you doing, Seppuku?” Chiya asked nervously.

No response was provided by the man, he was gazing at her and only breathing, at least indicating that he still lived. Chiya grunted in fear, wondering if she was going to make it in time and exactly how Seppuku was going to heal himself when they arrive at his place. These were questions that would soon be answered.

 

 

 

Chiya moments later approached an alley big enough to hide a vehicle. She drove into the alley which revealed a metal door. She assumed that Seppuku always parked his vehicle in this alley, therefore, she turned off the machine. The building entrance opened as Chiya dismounted from the _Red Dove_. Someone had exited the building and walked up behind her, though Chiya didn't bother to turn and greet the person. She grabbed Seppuku and turned around to face a man.

“We need to revive him, quickly!” the man panicked.

The two suddenly gasped after meeting eyes, it was Earl Bendek. Chiya was staring into his eyes with a startled look, but despite the surprising reunion, both nodded and ran Seppuku into the building. Chiya was immediately surprised by what she was looking at. This trash infested alley was just a cover up, it was actually hiding something much more than a simple building.

Now inside the building, the two walked together. Earl looked back and forth between Chiya and a door, then spoke with a grin, “So, uh, about that Casino Palace date...”

The Mysterian glared, “The man's bleeding, Earl!”

He turned his head and nodded, “R—right. Stay here young lady, the Lieutenant will want to see you if he makes it through this!” Earl then rushed Seppuku into a hallway.

Earl and Seppuku disappeared behind the metal door, thus leaving Chiya alone. The woman exhaled and finally collapsed onto her knees. Chiya wiped her forehead with closed eyes, ultimately in a state of disbelief at what she had just gone through. She gazed upon her hands with a disturbed expression while kneeling over the cold metal floor. What was mere minutes felt like hours, but it was only minutes ago that they had escaped from Rough Odds.

She opened her eyes and rubbed her beanie hat, then looked around the dark room in confusion. “What is this place?”

The room she sat in was like a lobby, but had only a single light hanging in the center of the room. It was practically pitch dark all around her except for the center. She had no idea where she was and what was going on.

Chiya had learned something that hour. F-Zero may typically be viewed as just racing, but she was beginning to understand what it truly was. F-Zero wasn't _just_ high speed racing, it was a war for one billion credits. One prize, but many combatants; and the fights could take place off the track, as Michael Chain had now demonstrated.


	4. Lap 4

==Lap 5==

 

Chiya had been sitting on the metal floor of this mysterious room for about twenty minutes. Earl had taken Seppuku through a door for medical treatment, she was instructed to stay put until further notice. The woman was biting on her finger nervously while wondering what would happen next; such as the possibility of Michael Chain busting into the room. Chiya had shot Chain in the upper chest, yet, he came out of this practically unharmed. Seppuku on the other hand fell after taking a single shot.

She stood up for the first time, deciding that it was finally time to explore this room. This room was a large and dark with the appearance of a lobby. Not a single object was present in the lobby aside from a set of display cases. Chiya walked toward the display cases slowly; a lone dim light shined over each one.

One of the objects on display was a bronze Grand Prix trophy, however, it appeared to have been thrown into the case with little care, as it was laying on its side collecting dust. In the second display case, a set of decorative medals lay neatly in rows. The medals appeared related to some kind of fighting force. Neither of the medals contained any lettering that would hint out where these were obtained, it could have been anywhere from the military to police for all she knew. The last display case launched Chiya back into a feeling of great shock. Blood Falcon's helmet stood in the third display case. The blue helmet appeared dusty. What struck Chiya as even more of a surprise was that the visor of the helmet was almost completely shattered and wouldn't protect the eyes of the wearer.

 _Seppuku can't be Blood Falcon, they were facing each other on the track…_ The helmet itself was styled the same way as Blood Falcon's, the minion of the most evil person in the universe, Black Shadow. Even though Chiya knew little about Blood Falcon, she felt as though an evil aura was coming off of the helmet. She dropped her hands onto the display case glass and tried lifting the top off with the desire to physically hold the helmet. Her tongue stuck out as she slowly lift the lid with great curiosity.

“Old fool always gets himself into these messes,” said Earl.

A startled Chiya swat her hands away from the glass and spun around with wide eyes. Earl stood before her with both arms behind his back and a casual expression. Despite all that had happened this past hour, the man appeared relaxed. He did, however, have some small blood stains at the very bottom of his white shirt.

Chiya remained staring into the man's eyes like a clueless fool, to this, Earl grinned and continued speaking.

“See, let me go ahead and explain what happened. Seppuku finds a thrill out of challenging people who overpower him. Michael Chain holds enough of a grudge against us as it is, challenging that man was just, plainly, an idiotic idea.”

Chiya blinked a few more times, then put her hands together with a scared face, “So, he survived?”

Earl closed his eyes and exhaled, “Well, admittedly, this isn't the first time this has happened, but somehow he keeps cheating Death.” He opened his eyes again and shrugged, “It's as if he doesn't even need blood,” he concluded with a chuckle.

Chiya bit on her finger and whimpered as the guilt finally came crashing in, “I should've brought him to a hospital. I- I don't know what I was think-”

“No!” Earl yelled with wide eyes.

            Chiya was immediately silenced, as if Earl had just demanded that she _shut up_. Earl glanced away from her while holding his head down in embarrassment after the outburst.

“I- I mean, you did the right thing bringing him here, the hospital would have been bad for him. No hospital. Seppuku doesn't make hospital visits.”

Chiya raised an eyebrow with rising suspicion. She was perceiving the reality that the full truth was being kept away from her; regardless, she nodded and turned toward the display cases again. The woman continued to examine the medals with Earl standing behind her. The new question she had was whether or not  these medals belonged to Earl, and not Seppuku. After moments of silent thinking, Chiya glanced back at Earl with a raised brow. She was now anxious to learn, exactly, where she was and what Earl's role in all of this was.

“Earl, where are we right now?”

The question was received hostilely, but Earl took no offense to it. He crossed his arms and began tapping his chin. Many seconds went by, and he now began to hum while thinking of a response. Chiya became somewhat frustrated with every second that passed; it was a question she believed he could easily answer, but was finding some difficulty in doing.

Ultimately, he shrugged, “I'm afraid I can't tell you that, at least not now.”

The Mysterian swiftly narrowed her eyes, feeling as though she were being challenged, “Who are you?” A simple and solid question.

Earl sighed and resumed tapping his chin, once again, he hesitated to answer. Chiya's frustration was greatly expanding.

“That, I also cannot tell you.”

This was enough nonsense for the woman; enough for her to determine that both Earl and Seppuku were bad news. Earl read her face like a book and rolled his eyes down almost in shame.

“Alright, I want to get out of here, now!”

Earl grunted but did not speak, he displayed discontent toward her demand. Chiya was only becoming further aggravated. It seemed everything that came from her mouth required some lengthy thought process before Earl could respond. The man sighed and kicked his foot down a few times.

            “I can lead you out of here, but-”

“Good.”

Earl glared at her impatience, “But I implore that you stay _at least_ until Seppuku regains consciousness. He gave me a strict order to keep you here until he wakes up from bed rest.”

 _Order..?_ Chiya thought with a troubled face.

“Of course, we can't imprison you here like some animal. If you want to leave, I'll drive you home. But please, it would look best for both of us if you respected his wish and stayed a bit longer. It won't be long at all, I promise.”

Chiya closed her eyes, exhaled to relieve herself of anger, then nodded after releasing a soft growl, “Very well. Do you have any food?”

It was uncommon for Chiya to eat, as she never had much money to purchase food with. Having spent every last credit on the engine, she literally had no money to spend on food. She survived on leftovers and scraps, which played a major role in creating her pencil thin body.

Earl finally revealed some emotion by forming a smile, he then answered her question, “Well, of course! I probably shouldn't give you any beer, though...”

Chiya shook her hand negatively, “I don't like the taste of alcohol. I hate it.”

The man blocked a very loud gasp from shooting out, but despite his own interests, he shot her two raised thumbs. “Good for you! Maybe if Seppuku had that kind of opinion on the matter, he wouldn't be getting shot all the damn time.” Chiya didn't respond to this, she didn't know how to respond to such a comment. She was still thirsty for answers, but unfortunately, Earl didn't appear to be an open book, “I'll go get you a snack. Be back in a second.”

           

 

 

Many minutes had gone by, Chiya resumed wandering around the empty room. The room was huge, but seemed to serve no importance, it truly was a lobby. There were three doors in the room, one being the entrance while the other two remained a mystery to her. As time went by, Chiya began doing stranger things to kill time, such as gazing into the light bulb of the ceiling light. After doing precisely thirty laps around the large lobby, Chiya finally flailed her arms up into the air and whined. _Blimey, how does it honestly take ten minutes to get a snack..!?_

Earl very soon returned with a bag of chips. Chiya had guessed correctly, it took Earl ten minutes to return with food. He tossed her the small bag, she looked down at it with disappointment.

“It took ten minutes to get me a bag of chips?”

“Seppuku woke up.” Chiya's eyes widened with interest. “As it turns out, one of the bullets grazed a part of his collarbone. As you can probably imagine he's feeling like Hell. This is actually the first time a bullet made contact with any bones.”

The woman brought her hands together and asked the obvious, “May I speak with him?” The actual reality was that Chiya just wanted to finally get out of this dull room.

Earl looked down at the ground whilst rubbing the back of his head, “Uh, well, not quite...” Chiya rolled her eyes while biting down. “He did, however, insist that you spend the night here. A bedroom and all other needed areas will be available to you, of course.”

This proposal sent a strong bolt of lightning down the woman's spine. The proposal was more awkward and disturbing than it was inviting. The very thought of sharing a building with two male strangers for a night seemed beyond risky. She had to bear in mind that both these men lived in the Lower City, and she had yet to ever meet someone from the Lower City with a pure heart. Even she, though unlikely to admit it, would likely run off with a purse if someone were to drop it. No one in the Lower City was truly good.

“I don't know, that would be so uncomfortable. I don't have any idea what's going on here…” she opened one eye hoping for an answer.

Earl nodded with a face that easily depicted a desire to provide her with answers, but he couldn't, “I can imagine you're feeling uncomfortable being left in the dark. But what you need to realize is that we mean you no harm, you did save him after all, perhaps he has something to give you. Trust me when I say, becoming friends with an F-Zero racer will have their perks in the end. Just think, if Seppuku were to win the Grand Prix, you'd have a billionaire friend.”

This was absolutely true and Chiya knew it. She thought through the proposal some more, more specifically, she thought about the benefits of accepting. If she were to leave this place alone, she would be taking on the risk of being attacked by Michael Chain again. Considering Seppuku was an F-Zero racer, he likely was a very wealthy man, meaning she could be rewarded with a lump sum. Being an F-Zero racer, there was also a strong chance that he may have another component laying around that could go with her supercharged engine. Lastly, she knew Seppuku wasn't going to mug her or anything of that sort, and Earl seemed friendly enough to trust. The fact of the matter was that if she truly wanted to fulfill her dream of  eventually becoming an F-Zero racer, getting help from another F-Zero racer would give her a big boost.

Chiya pressed her lips together and nodded with hesitance, “I... guess... I could spend one night away from that trashy warehouse I call 'home'…”

Earl nodded with a grin, again having persuaded her with talk of F-Zero, “Good.” He walked toward one of the doors in the lobby, “Follow me and I will show you to your room.”

Chiya did not express any happiness at this, she was staying vigilant. She would finally get to leave the lobby, however, which was enough motivation for her. Chiya entered a hallway with several more doors, each one across from the other. The hallway had many more lights compared to the lobby, thus livening it up much more. Earl stopped next to a door in the center of the hallway, then opened it slowly for her.

“You can stay here for tonight. If you need to use the restroom, kitchen, or other services, you just check through the doors in this hallway. Only roam through this hallway or the lobby, nowhere else. Oh, but don't go through the door at the end of the hallway, that's strictly off limits. But feel free to return to the lobby if you want.”

“Yeah, well, I had enough of the lobby…” Chiya muttered with a quick chuckle.

Earl grinned, then walked out the door with nothing more to say. Chiya continued staring at the door, then momentarily turned around to see her bedroom. It was nothing special, but contained a nice bed and bookshelf. Despite the dullness of the room, it was still much better than her usual resting place in the abandoned warehouse.

Chiya's first action was to drop onto the bed. While laying down, both her eyes began to widen at how much more comfortable this was in comparison to the mattress she usually slept on. The room was dull and the two men were creeping her out, but the bed almost made up for it all. The Mysterian's attention was centered on the ceiling as she tried listening for any sound, she found the whole building to be silent. The utter silence was frightening.

About five minutes of laying around passed, she finally turned her head toward the bookshelf standing beside her. At first glance each book appeared bland, some even lacked a title on the spine. One book was on making food, another was on plumbing. Moments of studying soon revealed nothing but guides and tutorials, most of which pertained to living. One book, however, stuck out more than the others. A book coated in red leather and golden trims had caught her eye. The fancy cover wasn't what grabbed her attention, rather, it was the gold falcon emblem located at the bottom of the spine.

She grabbed the book and brought it up to her face, the book was about F-Zero machine maneuvering. Chiya was not very surprised that an F-Zero racer would own a book like this, however, she found it mysterious that he had it in a room intended for guests. With everything that had been going on this past hour, she didn't feel like reading. Be as it may, she had to kill time; educating herself on such an interest would fit the bill.

The Table of Contents revealed many short chapters that focused on specific maneuvers and situations that a racer may find him or herself in. The chapters were categorized by 'offensive', 'defensive', and 'counter-offensive' maneuvers. The book succeeded in grabbing her initial interest, Chiya turned the page and began reading.

Throughout many minutes, Chiya found herself nodding and humming positively. One chapter she had even set the book down to test one of the exercises by treating her two fingers like racers. Both fingers moved up the bed, finger A would move left toward finger B and perform a side attack; finger B would quickly respond by spinning.

Another lesson raised Chiya's understanding of raising and lowering the maximum speed. The common F-Zero machine had a speed limiter to keep the engine from overheating. However, a knowledgeable racer could raise this speed up for a brief time—likely a whole minute depending on the quality and strength of the engine. A poor engine may be unable to handle a raised maximum speed for any period of time. Seppuku informed Chiya that her engine was _Class C_ , so she could expect about thirty seconds of raised speed before needing to turn it down again.

No matter how much content she took in and how long reading was taking, Chiya was respecting just how helpful the book actually was; she reinforced her learning with many finger exercises. All in all, she was legitimately intrigued by the information the book had to offer her.

Finally, though, a knocking at the door interrupted her reading session. The woman set the book down and sat herself up on the bed's edge.

“Uh, yes?”

The door opened and revealed Earl yet again, the man took a step inside with a pleased grin, happy to see her reading. “Just wanted to check up on you. Do you need anything?”

She shook her head negatively, “I'm fine. But... maybe some more food would be nice.”

Before Earl could answer her request, he sniffed the air and grunted, “Aw, jeez! Did Seppuku leave another corpse in here!?”

The Mysterian's eyes widened, “I'm... going to forget that I heard that.”

His eyes scanned the bedroom, then came back down onto Chiya, “Oh, wait, it's just you.”

“I'm _not_ going to forget that I heard that!”

Earl grit his teeth and shook his head, “Uh, uh, I- I mean- well, you don't smell bad; you have an odor, but not a bad odor...” Chiya raised an offended brow. The man flailed his arms up in the air with a big smile. “I- it's actually sort of nice, like a Korean farm! That's it, you smell like a farm.”

This didn't ease the tension. Chiya crossed her arms and dipped her head down. _Can someone remind me why I'm going to Casino Palace with this man..?_

Earl continued to wrestle his tongue, still trying to mop up his bad choice of words. Ultimately, he gave up out of fear that he'd continue to offend her.

“Well, this does bring me to an excellent point, though...”

“That girls who smell like farms are desirable?”

“No.” He rolled his eyes away from her in shame. “Would you care for a shower? You can use the washing machine in the bathroom.”

“Shower in a washing machine!?” Chiya then poked her lips to think about this more carefully, but then got down to the more serious matter. “No way! I'm not getting naked in a stranger's home!”

Earl shrugged, “Just saying, this is your opportunity to get truly clean. And we have a washing machine that'll clean and dry clothing all in about five minutes.”

She scratched her forehead with wide eyes, “Well, I sure would like clean clothing... but I- I don't wanna shower in someone's home! What if someone comes in? Perhaps this is a clever rapist's trap...”

“You have a gun?” he proposed.

Chiya puckered her lips and reached down for her handgun. This was true, no one was stopping her from taking the gun into the bathroom. After thinking this through for a few moments, she nodded and stood up with her gun.

 

 

The bathroom door locked and the Mysterian stripped off all her clothing. For precautionary reasons, Chiya robed herself in a white towel before showering. Now she stood gazing down upon the washing machine, and as Earl had told her, the label stated that the clothing will wash for about five minutes. Though she couldn't believe it, the label also claimed that the clothing would be dried out and stored into the nearby hamper afterwards.

She was skeptical of the machine's potential, but still dropped all her clothing into the machine. Next she closed the lid and pressed a red button, and so her clothing entered the washing phase. Now it was time for _her_ to enter the washing stage.

For the first time in years, Chiya stepped into a _working_ tub and hesitantly turned on the shower. She was immediately blasted with cold water, which caused her to yelp and panic; but she soon moaned pleasurably as the water turned warm.

“Oo——oh...”

She immediately felt as though five years worth of dirt, germs, and sweat had been torn off her body. The sight of so many water droplets on her arm was incredible, something she hadn't seen since her high school days. This was a big experience for someone who lived under such bad conditions all these years.

Chiya kept her eyes closed and mouth open in awe, but then looked forward and spotted soap. Her eyes widened greatly at the simple bar of soap; to her, this was more so a bar of gold. Taking the soap into her hand, the woman chuckled happily with great relief. She was praying to God that this wasn't a dream she'd soon wake up from, all she wanted was to get a fresh start. Even if she would need to go another five years without showering, she was ecstatic to finally be starting over with her hygiene. She did, however, often manage to brush her teeth—though likely with bad water.

Almost ten minutes had passed, all of which Chiya spent scrubbing herself spotless. She turned off the shower, wrapped herself, then dropped down onto her knees to look inside the washing machine hamper. As expected, her clothing were now dry and ready to be worn on a clean body. In ten minutes, Chiya had completely repaired her beauty—she just couldn't believe it.

After clothing herself back up, she walked out the bathroom with an intensive smile, but then gasped to find Earl standing in front of her.

“There, now you're clean and happy.”

“Wh- what the-” Chiya glared and looked back at the bathroom door, very paranoid of why he was at the door. “Are there any holes in that door!?”

The man chuckled, “Relax, I just heard the shower go off is all.”

Chiya raised her handgun up with two narrowed eyes, “That sounds like plenty incentive to try and get a front row seat to the Chiya Flower Show...”

“I would never peep on a woman. I'm all for the sport of kissing; not sex.”

This sentence almost offended her, “The _sport of kissing_?”

The two walked back into the bedroom, where Earl sat Chiya down, to her discomfort. Despite all the good that Earl had brought her so far, Chiya was still paranoid of whether or not he was just trying to get inside her shorts.

He sat alongside her and picked up the F-Zero book she had been reading, “Hm...”

“I was reading up on F-Zero maneuvers.”

“You don't say...”

Finally, Chiya let her guard down for a moment and opened up a more friendly question, “So, I take it you like F-Zero?”

“I'm knowledgeable on the topic of F-Zero machines, as you may have guessed, I could point out all of the Red Dove's sweet spots—if you know what I'm saying...”

Chiya's eyes widened almost automatically, “You're an F-Zero mechanic?”

“Tightening, welding, lubricating... they're all my kids.” Chiya's eyebrow raised to the analogy, “I'm a general purpose mechanic, but I guess you could say that I'm an F-Zero mechanic, yes.”

“You know how to build an F-Zero machine?”

The man closed his eyes and grinned, “Well, let's not get hasty about things. I _think_ I might have that kind of talent, but one does not simply snap together high powered components and call it an F-Zero machine.”

“Huh? Isn't it like any ordinary car?”

Earl turned and looked deep into her eyes, then scrolled his attention down toward the book. An image of the _Blue Falcon_ was printed on the cover. He pointed down against the machine.

“Think about it. An F-Zero machine isn't just a racer's second greatest possession, it is also their greatest companion. The racer must form a relationship with their machine so that they can better understand it, and in turn, win races.” Chiya left her mouth open with concentrated awe. “Are you a heavyweight or lightweight racer? Are you an offensive or defensive racer? Do you prefer an elevated or ground level cockpit? Speed or better energy tank capacity?”

“So there's a lot of preferences, then...”

“But it's not just a matter of preferences, Chiya. You need to build the machine to your liking, and then learn from your machine. _Every_ racer started off as novices who feared their machine; those who didn't fear their machine at first, well, probably died in their first year.” Chiya gulped and nodded. “Those who fear what their machines could do to them will take things easy and simply collect experience. With experience comes confidence and knowledge, and with confidence and knowledge comes victory.”

Chiya's mind was blown by all of this. The concept of treating an F-Zero machine like a companion was strange in theory, but made perfect sense. Someone who participates in horseback racing would need to form a relationship with their horse, the same could be said with F-Zero. Only the most passionate of racers were deserving of the prize money.

“Earl, you said that the machine is a racer's _second_ greatest possession?”

He nodded, “A racer's first greatest possession will always be knowledge and attentiveness. Just because you own a machine, doesn't make you a racer. If you don't have knowledge on F-Zero and the changing environment during a race, you're nothing but a person with an F-Zero machine.”

“Heavy stuff...” she muttered.

Earl nodded again with a warm smile, then stood up to stretch, “Well, I best be getting out of your hair for now. Hopefully Seppuku will wake up soon and have his conversation with you.”

It took a long time, but Chiya had finally been convinced that Earl wasn't a touch of bad. She actually found herself saddened that he was leaving the room, but she didn't stop him.

“Okay, I'll see you later,” she concluded.

The door closed, and Chiya was left alone yet again. Still, she remained gazing at the door with a head full of F-Zero content. On that note, she soon picked up the F-Zero book again and continued reading where she left off. Now clean and laying on a comfortable bed, she zoned back into reading.

 

 

 

Hours went by before Chiya awoke in shock, but for the first time in years, she awoke on an actual bed. She lifted herself up still with a shocked feeling, she had been worrying that maybe this was all a dream, but she indeed awoke in Seppuku's base. She was relieved to finally have some good fortune occur in her life. Despite finally having a good bed, she managed to fall asleep on it incorrectly, thus resulting in discomfort.

 The book she had been reading was on her lap. It was beyond her as to when she fell asleep, clearly, she crashed at some point. Chiya stood up and stretched, she now desired to find the time of day. She left the bedroom to find a clock under the presumption that there would be one in the kitchen, first she would need to find where this room is.

Her search was brief, picking a random door in the hallway to open revealed a clean room with some counters and storage units, she found the kitchen upon opening her first door. Chiya spotted a clock above the stove and found that it was a little past midnight.

“I guess I'll just go back to bed then...”

She opened the door and walked through, but walked straight into a wall; only this wasn't a wall. The Mysterian gasped and took a step back, the Man of Darkness himself stood before her at last.

“Seppuku!” Chiya greeted in fright.

The tall man remained silent but appeared lively as ever. He gazed down upon the much shorter woman and nodded.

“Good, you're awake...” he spoke.

Chiya was staring at him with both a serious and surprised expression, she nodded and quirked her mouth. It was time to receive some answers.

           

 

Later on, Chiya and Seppuku were inside of an office—located at the very end of the hallway. Seppuku sat behind a metal desk with both his arms behind him. Sitting on the desk was a computer, phone, many papers, and a can of beer.

“Let me explain why I was so insistent on you staying here tonight, Ms. ...”

“Chiya, Chiya Flower,” she answered with a smile.

He nodded, “I knew you were someone of importance the night I found you being held captive, you have a talent only one of ten people possess.” Chiya raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the immediate compliment given by such a person, “You understand how to supercharge an engine, and most importantly, you know how to pilot F-Zero without studying.”

Chiya shook negatively, “That isn't true, I've studied F-Zero all my life.”

“But you didn't attend any universities or classes on racing. You just watched the races, correct?”

She nodded, accepting that she was only a big F-Zero fan—nothing more. _What is he getting at..?_ The man seemed to be proposing _something_ , she just didn't know what that might be. Given that he was interested in her ability to supercharge an engine, she felt that there was likeliness he might offer her a job of some sort pertaining to the maintenance of the _Red Dove_.

“You didn't pilot very well, but you managed to fend off against a professional F-Zero racer. This leads me to believe that you might prove to be somewhat of use to me,” Seppuku put his hands together with a sly expression.

“Useful, how? What is this place? Why is Earl here?” she finally burst out.

“In due time. The secret here is that I'm not just an F-Zero racer, I'm also the boss of this Lower City vigilante group.”

Chiya felt a chill go through her back. Everything had suddenly become clear to her. She looked around the room and found several guns hanging on the wall. The truth came to be that Seppuku was a vigilante boss, and Earl his employee. Judging how quickly Seppuku killed one of the men attacking Chiya, she understood that this wasn't a very moralistic vigilante group—it was a 'shoot first, questions later' group.

“Who are you working for?” she asked with suspicion.

“I self-serve.”

“Then, where's the income?”

“Both in racing and looting the possessions of unlawful _scum_ …” he answered with a clenched fist.

Chiya nodded, but ultimately had lacking interest in getting involved with his team, “What is it you want from me?”

Seppuku brought his hands together, “Bendek and I are the only ones in this group, and he's just the caretaker of the base, Red Dove, and medical duties. This leaves me to get the actual work done all by myself.”

Chiya was still listening, despite her disinterest in joining. She was still getting some much wanted information from him, nonetheless. The woman didn't speak her mind yet, she was fully invested in listening to what he had to say.

“We could outfit you with your own F-Zero machine, eventually. Along with this, you could begin making serious money by doing odd jobs for me, as it would appear that you for the most part are unemployed,” he said looking at Chiya with a grin.

Chiya's eyes had lit up with extreme shock. The offer of an F-Zero machine in the future was enough to completely sway how she thought. She now had a pressured expression on her face and was trying to come up with a response. She wished to one day become an F-Zero racer, and now an F-Zero racer was offering her the opportunity.

“Judging by your body, that bag of chips must've been the most expensive thing you've ever eaten. Surely, you'd like more?” Chiya grit her teeth and grunted. “Chicken, milk, steak, fruit, bacon...”

Seppuku was employing the starvation tactic on her, he essentially waved a strip of bacon in front of a starving girl's face. The F-Zero machine, however, was the sole thing putting actual pressure on Chiya's decision to join, she did desire food very much, though.

“The only downside you may see in joining is that you will have to get your hands a bit more dirty and possibly kill if necessary.”

Chiya grunted in opposition to this, but felt that she was being pulled in by the food and F-Zero machine. She hummed in frustration while fighting the urge to accept the offer. _Kill people? Would I really sink this low just for an F-Zero machine..?_

“If you're concerned about the morality of killing...” Chiya gasped and looked up, as though he had read her mind. “You needn't be. I am the hunter, not you nor Bendek. I merely wish for you to act as a backbone for my organization. If we are attacked by low life scum, I don't want you to hesitate when the gun's drawn. Do I expect you to shoot immoral thugs at night? No, that is my hobby.”

This was all much to think about and certainly not a decision that could be made with ease. But the benefits of joining were too great, her hands were practically tied. Moments into thinking, though, she came up with an idea.

“I'll accept your proposal, bu—ut…”

She hesitated to finish her sentence and observed Seppuku's face to see if he would be bothered by a counter-offer. The man was flexing his fingers while staring at her. He almost seemed desperate for Chiya to join, all for reasons that eluded her comprehension.

“When I get my F-Zero machine, I want to begin training so that I can participate in the Grand Prix,” her counter-offer came with a smile.

Seppuku surprised the woman by smashing his fist down, “Don't be an idiot, girl! Racing isn't just knowing your basic turns and handling. Racing is death waiting to happen. If you die while racing, no one is held accountable, that's how F-Zero works nowadays!”

Chiya was grinning, fearless of his argument. “In addition to this, I also want to know everything that goes on here. All of this classified information is driving me crazy!” she said with a raised tone.

Seppuku was clearly not pleased with the counter-offer being made, but he sighed and quirked his mouth. “I'll accept all of your counter-proposals. But I want you to understand, if we fail to get your machine equipped with efficient parts before the next Grand Prix—you will not participate. After we build your F-Zero machine, train you, and test your skills in a bet race, we'll try your luck for an F-Zero license.”

Chiya rubbed her chin for a bit while thinking, she wondered if he would intentionally hold up on collecting the need parts so that she'd miss next year's Grand Prix. Seppuku had the look of a gambler, and Chiya had to decide whether to trust his hand or not. She narrowed her eyes and hummed.

“I don't have to live in that abandoned warehouse anymore, if I accept?”

Seppuku nodded affirmatively to this, intending to give Chiya the bedroom permanently. Chiya thus nodded approvingly to the trade of terms, “Very well, then. I accept.” she said reaching for Seppuku's hand.

The two shook hands in agreement, “Welcome, Chiya Flower. I'll have Bendek show you around the base tomorrow with full access, but first go get some sleep; you look exhausted.”

Chiya stood up straight, grinned, then saluted her new boss, “Yes, sir.”


	5. Lap 5

==Lap 6==

 

Chiya and Earl were walking down the hallway of Seppuku's base together and momentarily entered the lobby. The day had passed and Chiya could officially list herself as employed, though she never envisioned her first job being so unorthodox. Respectively, Chiya felt uncomfortable knowing that from now on she would be living with Earl and Seppuku—two men who were still strangers. Earl was occasionally awkward and revealed his interest of the 'sport of kissing'; Seppuku was dark hearted, mysterious, and trigger happy. Now she slept under the same roof as them. Chiya had been contemplating whether her decision to join Seppuku's organization was made too quickly, considering she agreed to join his vigilante group in exchange for an F-Zero machine and possible Grand Prix entry.

“Maybe with you around things won't be so boring,” Earl said with a grin.

Chiya raised an eyebrow, “Seppuku is such an interesting character, though. How could it possibly get boring around here?”

The two walked toward the other door in the lobby, the one Chiya hadn't seen yet. “Yeah, but he isolates himself in his office for most of the day. The only time he usually leaves that office is at night when he hunts…”

“ _Hunts_?” Chiya asked in fright.

“Whenever there's no work to be done, he sneaks around the Lower City at night in search of crime; such as the predicament you found yourself in that one night, at least as I've heard.”

Chiya lowered her head with a half glare. She covered her chest at the mentioning of the sickening night, “I had that situation under control before he came along…”

Earl opened the door Chiya had yet to see, revealing a large cold room with metal parts all over the place. At first glance the room appeared to be a personal indoor junkyard, but closer observations revealed a very disorganized garage. In the garage's center was the pinnacle of Chiya's excitement. A dirty and unpainted body for an F-Zero machine. The body was heavyweight, likely in the vicinity of 1,900 kg or about 4,000 pounds. She would have the benefit of stronger attacks, better defensive, and faster drops when in the air; but overall, a slower machine. Chiya gasped with wide eyes at the massive gray body.

“Well, there it is. That was meant to one day be my F-Zero machine, but God knows I can't pilot one anyways, and I've never had intentions of racing. I just wanted a machine so that I could help Seppuku on the streets.”

“Wow!” she blurted.

“Well, don't get too excited, this is only the body. Luckily, the computer and dashboard are installed already, but it still requires the main components.”

Chiya placed her hand on the body of the future machine, the steel was cold and completely void of any cuts. Even the _Blue Falcon_ had visible cuts that were beyond repair; she couldn't wait to one day see war scars on her own machine. The body seemed brand new, which raised a new question.

“Where'd you get this thing? I mean, it doesn't look like something you pulled out of a junkyard...”

Earl nodded, “Seppuku used to have some connections with the Galactic Federation. From what I understand, this was the concept some man going by the name of Professor Hollow created. He's the guy who built the Queen Meteor and King Meteor F-Zero machines. Apparently, the plan was to mass produce these as elite police chasers, but the plan was scrapped due to expenses.”

“Aye, building an F-Zero machine is expensive I'd imagine.”

“O—oh, yes.”

Chiya was hugging the body with a warm smile, “So this is going to be mine eventually?”

Earl gave her a thumbs-up, “You bet, in fact, it's yours right now. I planned on painting it black and red, calling it something badass, like...” Earl put on an intensive grin and shot his fist up with glory, “The _Dark Avenger..._ ”

Chiya rubbed her chin with puckered lips, “Sounds good, but, alternatively...” She leapt in front of the body with a cute smile, “We could paint it red and pink, then name it the _Purring Kitten_!”

Earl's jaw dropped down while grunting, it was as if he were just slapped across the face. His original dream of making the machine dark and fearsome had been crushed by cute and fluffy. Nevertheless, it was her choice to make.

“W- well, I guess that could also work…” he muttered.

“So where do we get all the other parts?”

Earl sat down on a metal spinning chair, “Well, Seppuku claims that you already possess a basic F-Zero engine?”

The question was received in a way that spooked the girl. Not even a day had passed, yet, she was already forgetting the life she had been leading outside of the base. Unfortunately, the engine was back in the sad place she considered to be a home. “Yes, but it's back home... well, or at least where I was staying…”

The conversation was cut short by Seppuku, “Flower!” His obnoxiously loud voice ran through the ears of both young associates.

Seppuku tossed Chiya a metal box the size of a water bottle. She looked up at the man while lifting the lid up, the box contained much ammunition for her handgun. Chiya widened her eyes and gulped.

“O- oh God, why are you-”

“This part of the Lower City is as dangerous as it gets. If you're going to return for that engine, you'll need to be on your toes at all times.”

She grit her teeth frantically, “Wait, what do you mean by 'dangerous as it gets'?”

The man towered over her with a locked gaze, “The general rule is that the closer you are to the Upper City, the less violent. This part of the Lower City is miles away from the Upper City, therefore, this part of the city has excessive violence. No one can help if you get into trouble _here_.”

Chiya was left almost speechless. Despite having lived in the Lower City for years, she had no idea that there were more dangerous sectors, “Where's the police?”

Seppuku laughed, “Police? That's a laugh, you won't find any cop brave enough to come down here.”

The Lower City had a very high crime rate because of the lack of funding and police. The complete opposite for the Upper City. Police officers kept a lookout for trouble in the same area as Rough Odds, beyond this, Jody Summer recommended that officers go no further.

Seppuku pat Chiya on the head, “Your first mission is to go retrieve your supercharged engine. That's it.” He then held onto his collarbone, where he had been shot. “I would gladly accompany you there, but Bendek says this wound is going to take at least two more days to heal.”

Earl jolted his head up and glared. He turned toward Seppuku and lectured, “Uh, _no——o_ , I said two _weeks_! Two, _weeks_ , to heal!”

Seppuku laughed, “Two weeks? Yeah right. Two days will be plenty.”

Earl growled angrily, “No, it won't! Why do you always do this?”

Though this was an important conversation, Chiya interrupted, “What kind of danger do you think I might come across?”

Seppuku and Earl exchanged glances. The tall man tilted his head toward her, “You may have noticed that the Lower City is experiencing a massive gang war between _Red Star_ and the _Bloody Chain_. You need to make sure you're back before sunset, or you may get caught between the feud.” Chiya widened her eyes, Seppuku continued after snapping his fingers, “But the Gang War is only the worst-case scenario, there's always crime lurking down here. Twenty-four seven, three hundred sixty-five...”

“G- Gang War!? Do you really think I might encounter this if I don't hurry!?” she asked frantically.

“Damn right you will. In the eyes of the gangs you're just unclaimed property...”

Chiya grit her teeth and jumped, “I better get going then!”

The woman sprinted toward the door after saying this. Earl and Seppuku could see Chiya loading her handgun with ammo while running, she had a bad feeling about this mission. Once she went out of sight, Earl looked at Seppuku in discontent.

“Why did you lie to her?”

“Lie? In what way?”

Earl flailed his hands angrily, “Don't give me that crap. You know just as well as I do that there is no specific time the Gang War goes hot, it just happens whenever!”

Seppuku acknowledged this with a nod, “True, but if I told her that, she would have never agreed to go get the engine.”

Earl sighed at his reasoning, “Can I at least drive her there? This is a bit risky...”

“Bite your tongue, Bendek. She's armed and has a goal—to get a machine. Let this mission serve as an evaluation for her. Next time, we'll operate together as a team.”

The mechanic closed his eyes and sighed frantically, “Well, let's hope she doesn't get captured or anything. It's a cruel place out in the Lower City...”

           

 

 

A while later Chiya speed walked along the streets in an unfamiliar area. Her handgun was tucked to her side, she had a feeling deep down that she would need it before completing the mission. The overall feel of walking down the sidewalk was strange, as if she wasn't supposed to be walking outside in the first place. In this scenario, Chiya was just waiting to get mugged _—_ or worse.

A shock went through her upon spotting someone creep around the corner of a building to look at her. Chiya felt that she could find herself in a similar situation as before if not careful, the only difference would be that this time she had a gun. The person disappeared the first moment their eyes met. She was under the strong presumption that this person was also trying to avoid contact with criminals.

Like the rest of the Lower City, there were no businesses opened around this area; just abandoned stores that were all looted. This section of the Lower City was especially quiet, either a good or bad thing. Many of the buildings were greatly damaged, thus indicating that the government paid no attention to this area of Mute City at all. The Federation had practically given up on the people here. The fact was that no sane person visited the Lower City voluntarily, not even religious missionaries showed their face, fearing that they'd be mugged. The Lower City was a place best avoided. A few miles away from Chiya were elevating roads leading upward to the more financial and thriving Upper City; the new land of opportunity.

            Chiya noticed over time that more people had come to look at her from behind buildings; this was beyond frightening, however, these people did not appear dangerous. The gathering citizens were dirty and weak; just homeless people who were interested in her. She had a hard time feeling sympathetic for these people, though, as she had been living in no better state a mere day ago. She needed more time to fully understand the horrid life that each of these individuals led.

Minutes later Chiya knew that she was in a safer place, as she had made it back to the block with Rough Odds. Before heading back to the warehouse, she decided to go see what became of Rough Odds after Michael Chain's attack.

She rounded a building corner and and was faced with a police presence. There were a few officers in the area _—_ specifically, investigators. Chiya decided that she would approach the officers and see if more information could be acquired on the gang war.

Chiya walked over to one officer standing by the main damage of the building. He was gazing upon the hole that Chain had climbed through.

“Hello sir, what happened here?” She was only lying to avoid becoming a suspect.

The officer stepped away from the wall, “It's a complete mystery to us, but we know it was because of this damn gang war.”

Chiya glanced inside the now destroyed bar. The building was much more astonishing without the smoke, as she could now see just how much damage was actually inflicted. _All of this just to kill Seppuku..?_

“Right now we're debating whether we label this as terrorism. It's hard to label it as terrorism if it wasn't directed toward the citizens in particular, but rather, a mere side effect of gang warfare.”

“What's to become of the bar?”

The officer shook his head with a frown, “This place is done for, the owner was killed by the explosion yesterday. It's a real shame.”

Chiya didn't know the owner personally, but this was the only place she ever went to for entertainment. She relied on this place since the beginning to watch F-Zero racing and the news. Rough Odds would be difficult for her to say goodbye to.

The officer continued, “This was one of those fun places to visit when you have the spare time, and that's saying a lot, considering it's in the Lower City. But I guess we're back to the olden days of listening to F-Zero races on our radios...”

“I'm sorry to hear that, I really do appreciate you guys providing us with help down here in such a dangerous part of the city. I hope you can end this gang war soon.”

The officer was grinning up until the last sentence, in which he responded, “Yeah…”

The woman turned and continued toward her old home. She had left the crime scene within moments. Michael Chain had ruined a place for fun and discussion, most Lower City citizens would no longer have a way to watch the Grand Prix. Chiya was only lucky to have gotten a new place to stay where she could watch the races. If she hadn't been offered a job, she would have lived a much duller life in the abandoned warehouse—unable to watch her favorite sporting event.

Chiya made it to the abandoned warehouse not long after her encounter with the officer. She entered the room with her mattress and found the boxed engine untouched. Before leaving, she decided to first go around and collect any other possessions she owned. It took her another second to realize something; that she owned nothing of importance.

She looked down at her mattress where a patterned blanket sat. Picking the blanket up, she gazed into the stitching with an immense frown. The blanket had a red and white stitched pattern of squares, every square was stitched with undying love.

 _My mother was so sure I would bring fame and fortune to the Flower name. I've failed her…_  

The blanket was crafted by Fiona Flower, the mother Chiya had to bid farewell to so many years ago. This blanket was all she had left of her family, it held much importance to her. Finally, she grabbed a gym bag full of what possessions she did own and put the blanket in the box above the engine. She departed out the building for the last time. It could safely be said that she would not miss this warehouse.

           

 

 

It didn't take very long for her to retrieve the engine and other possessions, but now she had the challenge of carrying this large box back with her. Considering the situation she got herself into the last time she carried this, she would need to be especially careful. If confronted by someone dangerous, she'd need to drop the box in order to pull out her handgun— her only defense.

This time she avoided the sidewalks by moving down the streets, this way, no one could jump out of an alley to attack. Chiya had a clear memory of where to find Seppuku's base. The real challenge would be getting back to the base without confrontation.

            Chiya passed by Rough Odds, and oddly enough, there were no longer any officers present. She had been walking for mere minutes and already her arms were becoming weak from holding such a large object. Now off the streets and into a new home, Chiya hoped to build back some of her strength. Lack of food and exercise had greatly declined her body to the point where one might expect her to be anorexic. Chiya actually had above average sized breasts, even when skinny they were large; but her two newly found companions would be left jaw dropped if she could gain back some weight—as this would further increase her chest size. There was much of Chiya's body to repair after so many years of starvation.

 

 

           

The Mysterian's walk was fruitful up to this point, she was a little more than halfway to the base. Chiya hadn't come across any of the situations that Seppuku described, it appeared as though she was home free; or so she thought.

Both her eyes suddenly widened and her rubber boots skid to a stop. Far across from her was the image of two men facing one another, one appeared to be homeless, the other was strong and better attired. The homeless man appeared to be bickering with the much stronger counterpart. Chiya sped her way to the side of a building and observed the two with squinting eyes.

Further examination revealed that the much larger person was acting authoritative toward the other, she soon realized what was happening, and it sent her into a cold moment of awe. The muscular man waved a military knife toward the homeless man, Chiya knew for a fact that this was an act of injustice. With bravery, she got closer to the action, desiring to hear the conversation they were having.

“I don't want to be part of this!” the homeless man begged.

“Red Star needs active members if we are to defeat the Bloody Chain!” the muscular man yelled back.

“B- but I would gain nothing out of this. Our lives here are already awful enough!”

“Your motivation for joining is that I'll spare you!” The gangster grinned and shrugged, “Your life is already going to Hell, why not make a difference? United we can one day take this metropolis by storm.”

The homeless man glared, “Look at me, I am frail and weak. What could I possibly offer your gang!?”

“Good point. Hand over your possessions,” he demanded.

Chiya gasped and began to tremble. This wasn't her battle, but the more she looked at the man, the more she thought of herself being in that position. The fact of the matter was that to an extent, she _was_ in that exact position, Seppuku granted her a second chance by saving her. Chiya quickly came to the realization that he had a knife—but she had a gun. It was the exact same situation she had been in, and it was her time to play Seppuku's role.

The Red Star gangster stopped talking at the sound of a gun cocking. Both men turned around to find Chiya aiming her gun with an intense stare. She was holding the pistol with both her hands and trembling, she couldn't believe what she was doing and possibly about to do.

“Well, what is this now?” the muscular man asked in a threatening voice.

The girl barred her teeth, “Y- You know what this is. Leave this man alone!” she yelled nervously, yet, in a heroic way.

The gangster raised an eyebrow upon noticing her frantic trembling stance. The fear in Chiya's eyes helped establish that he still had the upper hand, to an extent. He smirked and shook negatively.

“Little girl, you're doing a man's job right now. You're lucky you came across me, because I'm willing to let you go this time. Other gang members would kill you…” Chiya growled, her built up anger was inspiring her to hold onto the gun a little more steadily. She now held the pistol with only one hand. “Even if you kill me, Red Star will track you down. I'm a corporal in Blaskovitz's army, and we all care for each other...” he said laughing.

She shook her head, “Don't make me do it, I don't want to do it...”

Finally, the gangster sent a challenge by moving toward her with his knife ready, “Stupid girl, give me that gun!”

Chiya glared and bit down, “I don't have time for trash!”

She angled the gun downward and fired, the bullet struck his knee. The gangster collapsed onto the ground while grunting, then looked up at her.

“Son of a- you shot me in the knee! That's so weak!”

The homeless man ran away the first moment Chiya fired the gun. She stood before the injured gangster, now greatly disturbed by what she had just done. Chiya swallowed and returned to her trembling stance.

The bleeding man looked up at her, “So, what now. Are you going to finish me off?”

Chiya lowered her weapon and sighed, “No, that isn't part of my mission,” she answered before holstering the handgun.

After concluding the engagement, she walked away to grab the box and bag she left by the building, the man remained on the ground still looking at her. He widened his eyes and grunted, realizing that she was speaking the truth—she was going to leave him.

“Yo- you're part of Bloody Chain!”

Chiya disregarded the accusation and proceeded to run with the box and bag, she had likely gotten herself into more trouble by firing at a gang member, but she was at least safe. The gangster continued watching as the Mysterian turned onto a new street and left his sight. Afterwards, he pulled out a mobile device so that he could call for his gang to save him.

 

           

 

Eventually, Chiya made it back to the alley leading to the front door of the base. Chiya had not encountered further trouble. The conflict she had gotten herself into gave her the adrenaline rush to sprint all the way home. Now panting, she opened the door and entered—safe.

Chiya walked into the garage searching for Earl, but did not see him. She set the engine on a table and left the garage. Neither Earl nor Seppuku were anywhere to be seen. The problem she found with the base was that every room, somehow, came to be utterly silent, no matter how loud you were in another room. This made it especially difficult to tell whether or not two people were in a room.

After dropping the blanket and bag on her new bed she stopped to think. She looked back at her door and quirked her mouth, contemplating where the two might have gone. The answer came with a snap of the fingers. _Earl said Seppuku never leaves his office..._

She spent a few moments trying to remember which one of the doors led to his office, but eventually came to it. The woman felt somewhat stupid not knowing which door it was, considering his office door was located straight down the hallway. She opened his office door and exhaled in relief, she found both Earl and Seppuku.

“I'm back.”

Both men looked at her, Seppuku put his hands together and asked, “Did you encounter any problems?”

Chiya confirmed this with a nod, “I found a gang member of the Red Star, I think. He was mugging some old man.”

“And?”

“I engaged him, successfully.”

Seppuku put his hands together with a pleased grin, “And he's dead?”

“No, I shot him in the knee and left him.”

This second part disabled his grin, “You're a fool for doing that. But at least, you completed your mission and saved an innocent life. Good work, Flower.”

“A fool?” she asked with a glare.

“Yes, an idiot-girl. Why would you leave him like that?”

Chiya held her chin and shrugged, “It just seemed wrong to kill him.”

Seppuku slammed his fist down angrily, “Is it? You shot him, which likely disabled him. Now, who's going to save him? The police? I don't think so, they'd probably just finish the job anyhow.” Chiya widened her eyes and gasped, instantly feeling guilty. “He likely remained there and bled to death in pain, where he spent his final moments on the ground suffering. The most heroic thing to do in that situation would be to set him free on the spot—by killing the bastard!”

Chiya bit her finger at the thought of going that far, “B- but, that doesn't seem right...”

“Elaborate.”

“Well, I mean, can't anyone change for the better?”

The man scoffed, “Bring it up with some hippies, these are immoral gangsters incapable of change.”

Chiya narrowed her eyebrows in offense, then glanced at Earl for help. To her surprise, Earl was conveying a supportive look. There seemed to be two sides to this debate, Chiya and Earl were on the moralistic side.

Seppuku shrugged at her with a dull face, “However, as I said, you completed your mission. You'll find that future engagements put you in these kind of tough situations, in which case, the fate of your victim rests in your hands alone—not mine. Quite personally, I don't give a damn how you go about tending to crime. All I'm saying is that in the future when you decide to spare one of these useless thugs, I won't shed a tear when they sneak a bullet through your back as you think that things are under control.”

Chiya shook her head with a frown, “I'm sorry…”

Seppuku turned toward the television Earl was looking at, “I take it you didn't notice what happened while you were gone?” asked Seppuku.

“Huh, what happened?”

Earl glanced at her with a quirked mouth, “While you were gone, there were reports of a devastating firefight between the two gangs. The firefight was in the middle of an intersection, and reports are saying there were many civilian casualties.”

Chiya gazed at the TV screen, which was showing a simple photo of Michael Chain at the crime scene.

After a day of both horror and excitement, it was becoming clear to Chiya that before she could get to work on building her future F-Zero career, this dreaded gang war would need to end…


	6. Lap 6

==Lap 7=

 

** 5 years ago **

Chiya was sitting in a chair facing a desk. The room was bright and located up in a tower erecting from Mute City's main university. Facing the Mysterian was a man in black with dark hair; he had a stern look on his face.

“Ms. Flower, from what information I _have_ been able to gather from you, you've never been employed and had no interest in any of the classes you took in high school.” Chiya sat still with a disappointed expression, feeling that she was being lectured. “Since you've refused to provide me with paperwork, I can only go with what you're telling me. You claim that your highest score was an 'A' in automotive engineering and that you have a fond interest in F-Zero.”

 Chiya nodded, affirming her skills in engineering, “As a child I worked in my dad's shop managing engines with problems. I did this for many years.”

The man nodded and looked down at a paper she had written to the university, “You also claim to be a very reliable person when it comes to work, but this brings back the issue...” He looked up with two lowered eyebrows, “What work are you referring to?”

Chiya looked at her feet and rubbed the back of her head, “I- I- I did volunteer work every now and then, mostly around the house, but...” The man shook his head negatively, he was chewing Chiya's dreams up like gum. “Oh, I know! I was the team captain for our varsity football team. See, I have a very strong foot which made me an ideal striker. I assure you, I'm an excellent teammate and could bring this university great things if put on the field.”

The man hummed and nodded, “Well, that would be great; might even earn you free tuition here.” Chiya's eyes widened and her face brightened, “That is, if you could prove any of these accomplishments. Considering you refuse to give me any school documentation, I'm honestly inclined to believe that, perhaps, you never attended school.”

Chiya frowned, “I- I still have my uniform, I brought it with me to Mute City!”

He momentarily shook his head and sighed, “Alright, I'm just going to come out with it. I'm afraid all of this won't get you into our university. No offense, but this likely won't get you into any university. Not without documentation, where's the documentation? You still haven't answered why you're unable to run off documents!”

“I can't do that because...” She rubbed her arm and looked away, “Uh, my school's nowhere nearby...”

“Sorry, but I'm declining your request for entrance.”

Chiya got an overwhelmed look on her face and proceeded to to panic, “B- But you don't know me! I'm really nice and can get work done, I- I know that if you give me a chance-”

The man handed her back the papers, “Look, I don't know. All I'm saying is that it'd be ridiculous to enlist you into our school simply because you tell me a thing or two about yourself. If you have any intentions of building a future here, or anywhere else, you'll need more than stories and hobbies; I need factual documentation. End of story. Come back with documentation, and we'll talk.”

Chiya crossed her legs together with a quivering frown. She looked down toward the floor while trembling, her eyes watered sadly, “I- I literally can't go back home. I have no place left to go…”

           

****

           

Chiya awoke with a startled expression, she was laying in bed under her blanket. Her new bedroom was dark and silent, no matter what time of the day it was. While Chiya appeared to be living a better life, the new job she took on was going to prove even more challenging than surviving the streets alone. The past day she had gotten into a violent encounter with a gang member, it was her first day with Seppuku and already she had to fire a weapon at someone.

She sat up and blew her bangs in frustration. _Is all of this really worth an F-Zero machine..?_ She grabbed her beanie hat and opened the door. Upon walking through the door she ran into something—or someone. Seppuku was standing in front of her.

Chiya widened her eyes in fright by his sudden appearance, “Oh God, you're not always going to do that, are you?”

Seppuku looked down at her with his signature hostile look, “Go check in with Bendek, he's in the garage installing the engine.”

Chiya beamed excitedly, then rubbed the back of her head, “Uh, what time is it?”

Seppuku walked away, “Time for work.”

           

 

 

Chiya made her way to the garage in search of Earl, she was still trying to memorize the location of each room, but was getting the hang of things. She moved inside the garage with quiet toes, a cranking sound was coming from ahead. Earl had been located under the F-Zero body with a ladder going into it, he was inside trying to install the engine.

In a gentle voice, she greeted him, “Earl?”

The man lowered himself down to look at her, “Oh, afternoon, Chi'.”

Chiya bobbed her head up with two raised brows, “Chi'?”

“Yeah, you know, it's 'Chiya' without the two-”

“I think Seppuku hinted you may like a hand?” 

Earl swat his fists together, “Actually, I think I have it installed. I wouldn't mind, though, if you could go attempt to start up the engine while I adjust it. I'm sick of going back and forth.”

“Sure!”

She approached the cockpit with a big happy eyes. The machine still lacked a cockpit window, so she was able to crawl inside. This was the first time she had ever gotten inside her future machine. Chiya seated herself comfortably and looked around, the interior appeared completely finished. A bulletproof window would finish the job.

Earl shouted his instructions, “Alright, start the engine and I'll adjust it to optimal standards!”

Chiya searched the dashboard and spotted the ignition, the key was already inside. She grasped the key but hesitated to turn it. Very depressing fears flooded into her mind, like the F-Zero machine exploding upon ignition or Earl getting obliterated due to engine failure. She bit her lip and hesitantly powered on the machine.

The Mysterian was greatly startled as the machine proceeded to make a loud grinding noise, her initial presumption was that something bad had happened. Earl was now tinkering around with the engine in a bid to adjust it correctly. As he continued working the machine's sound changed. After nearly a minute of adjusting he climbed out of the machine.

“Turn it off, I need to get something!” he shouted to her. Chiya twisted the key back, the machine made a dying sound similar to that of a vintage plane turning off. Earl grabbed a tool off his workbench and returned to the machine. “Alright turn it on one more time,” he instructed before climbing back into the machine.

Chiya turned the engine on and Earl resumed work, she was still afraid that the machine may explode. Soon, a loud booming had occurred; this sent Chiya out of her seat in a great panic. She turned toward the side view mirror and could see a blue flame coming out the back while the machine shook rapidly. The engine was on and the rear rocket was flaming, but the machine itself was locked down to the floor because of very strong metal wires. A few moments later Earl climbed out of the machine, removed his dirty work gloves, then came walking toward the cockpit.

“Alright, turn it off!”

She did as instructed, the constant shaking of the machine had stopped shortly after twisting the key. Chiya leaned out of the cockpit and gazed at him, “So it's working?”

Earl nodded, “It would appear so, but we'll need to perform more tests.”

He reached his hand up as an offer to help her down, she grabbed the hand and carefully slid off the large machine and onto the floor. Once standing in front of one another, Earl grinned and crossed his arms and chuckled.

“So, my adult self is trying his hardest to leave you alone; but my teenage self has to ask.” Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, he grabbed his waist and asked, “You like engineering?”

The Mysterian beamed, “I love working with engines! They're so cool, the way they work. Always worked on them back at home. So I guess the answer to your question is, yes.”

Earl briefly became lost in her eyes, but stopped himself from looking like a love fallen idiot by closing his eyes. “Okay, okay, so answer me this, then. The reactor for your machine, should we try and raise its capacity or level it out to bring electrical balance?”

“Uh...”

“I presume you would up the capacity whenever you did regular cars, right?”

Chiya blinked cluelessly, then rubbed her foot in small circles, “Uh, the reactor... that's the thing under the steering wheel, right?”

The man appeared very excited up until this question, in which case, he normalized his face with a regular sized grin. “Ah, I see. You're a single concept mechanic, then?”

“What's that?”

“Well, all I've heard you talk about since I met you was your experience with engines...”

She put on a large smile, “Oh, yes, I love engines.”

“Yeah, so you're an engine specific mechanic.”

“Sounds right.”

The man nodded and looked back at the future F-Zero machine. Chiya lowered her eyebrows with somewhat of a frown, saddened to have possibly lost some respect. She only now realized that Earl was very interested with the idea of a female mechanic, but alas, she only specialized in a very specific field. She knew how an engine was built, how it ran, and how it could be modified; but not much else in terms of engineering.

“Ah, well, that's kind of unfortunate for me, I was looking forward to your help once we find a booster and reactor for the machine.”

Chiya brushed off the hurt feelings, “So where do we get the booster and reactor?”

Earl raised his finger, “We also need a combat module so you can attack or defend against other racers,” he added.

“Right, but where do we find these parts?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Seppuku would be the one to supply you with that information, not me.”

Chiya bowed, “I'll go ask him,” she said walking away.

Earl turned toward her with a quirked mouth, “Tell him he shouldn't get back into action so early with that wound!”

The Mysterian made a sudden stop, then hesitantly turned to face him. Her face was lacking in expression, though her mind was full of emotions. She didn't want Earl to lose interest in her character just because of her single interest with engines.

“I- I can learn quickly, you know...” Earl raised his chin up at her. “I'd still love to help you install those other parts, once we get them...”

Earl narrowed his eyebrows, then raised one skeptically, “You'd actually care to help me here in the garage?” Chiya smiled and returned a heavy nod. “Huh...” he muttered soundly. “Here I kind of thought you might be someone who doesn't like getting dirty.”

“Oh, I hate getting dirty!” She scratched the back of her head, “But, you know...”

Silence separated their conversation. Earl leaned against the F-Zero machine while scratching his chin. The Mysterian cleared her throat and looked up at him, but didn't speak. To break the awkward silence, Earl spoke for her.

“You can never stop looking for hobbies, I gotcha.”

Chiya beamed, “E- Exactly!”

 

 

 

Chiya now had a clear image of where Seppuku's office was, this was a place she could get to with ease. She approached the office door and gulped, fearful of entering his office by herself. While Seppuku seemed to have good intentions, his dark character placed him alongside most villains in terms of intimidation. The big question on the woman's mind currently was where Seppuku on the Good vs. Bad scale. She entered the office with great caution and found Seppuku sitting with both legs up on the desk. He glanced at Chiya with a raised brow.

“Yeah?”

She blurted out an immediate request, “We need the other parts for the machine.”

            “I don't have them.”

Chiya raised her eyebrows, “So—o, we're buying the parts?” Seppuku laughed at her question, this raised her tempter, “Alright, then, I see what you're saying…” she spoke in discontent.

“Buying either of those parts would bring us into complete poverty. An engine is the least expensive part since all you need to do is supercharge an ordinary one.”

“So why are we even building this, then!?” she yelled.

“Don't raise your voice with me, child! Mind you, two days ago, you didn't even have a machine body. Be thankful for the damn crap I've already given you.” This somehow calmed Chiya down. Seppuku tipped his fedora downward and sat himself up straight, “But don't worry, I have a plan on getting your parts.”

Chiya held her hands together quickly with a gleeful look, “Oh, great!”

“Basically, we're going to steal the parts,” he said with a devious smirk.

The Mysterian's arms fell limp, “I'm not doing that! Where's the morality?”

Seppuku shook his head negatively, “We're not stealing them from anyone innocent. Red Star has a vehicle lot full of stolen parts. All we need to do is infiltrate it, take what we need, then leave.”

Chiya bit her finger and considered this, “We're stealing stolen parts? That still sounds kind of wrong, I mean, they're still stolen, after all…”

The man fell back against his seat and shrugged, “Then there is nothing I can do for you. You and Bendek will just have to set up a lemonade stand to make the money.”

Chiya sighed at her limited options, he was pressuring her into assisting in a dangerous heist, “How do we even pull off such an operation? This sounds like suicide.”

Seppuku chuckled, “Suicide? Why else do you think my name's 'Seppuku'?” The room was filled with silence before the man leaned forward and added, “I will accompany you on the heist.”

“No way, Earl says you need to stay out of action for at least two weeks!”

She was sent an outburst of laughter, “Please, he's just a mechanic.”

Chiya lowered her eyelids and shook negatively, “I don't know about that, I think you're looking at his talent the wrong way.”

“I won't be getting too involved in this mission, if that's what you're worrying about. I'll stay at a distance with my rifle in case things go badly, all you need to do is bring back as much as you can carry.”

Chiya had to think about the mission very carefully, Seppuku was obviously being stubborn about his wound, he had only been through a single day of recovery. He appeared fine and seemed almost eager to get back out and fight.

“Fine, but you need to form a plan that will keep me safe, considering I'm doing this practically alone.”

Seppuku placed his hands down on the desk, “Yeah, yeah, I'll have a plan made before we leave tonight. You'll make it out completely unharmed, I assure you this much.”

Chiya stood absolutely still somewhat doubting this plan of his, but she felt pressured into doing it for the sake of her F-Zero machine. She could get what she wanted the fast way or the slow way, the slow way being to make up the money for the remaining parts.

 

 

 

Hours later, Chiya was sitting in the back of the _Red Dove_ , Seppuku was at the wheel. Unlike how Chiya drove, Seppuku was going down the streets very quickly, most buildings left their sight within seconds. Seppuku clearly had no regard for the posted speed limits of the Lower City. The speed limit hardly mattered either way, considering the lack of pedestrians, vehicles, and police on the streets.

Chiya was at the edge of her seat trembling in fear. She had never been in such a fast vehicle before, “D- don't you get scared you might crash in this thing!?”

Seppuku swished his hand calmly, “These machines are built to withstand attacks from opposing machines going one-k kilo an hour. We're practically driving a tank.”

The infrastructure of this part of the Lower City was horrid. The roads were bumpy, contained a lot of debris, and full of holes from what appeared to be the aftermath of explosions. The infrastructure of this neighborhood made one thing clear to Chiya; no homeless person voluntarily lived here.

“So how do you know where this lot is?”

“I am very familiar with the Lower City. I found this place a month back and have been studying what goes on. This seems to be a common place for gang deliveries, amongst delivered goods, I've seen machine parts.”

Chiya prepared to respond, but was stopped as the machine came to a sudden stop. The woman flailed her arms while nearly falling forward. Unlike Chiya, Seppuku was sitting completely still. Chiya grabbed her handgun in preparation to fight several members of Red Star. Seppuku, however, gently pushed her handgun below her waist using only two fingers.

“You won't be needing that unless you're cornered. I'll be watching you closely from atop the building over there.”

Chiya put her handgun away with hesitation. This mission was beginning to sound like too much work for one inexperienced girl. She became more doubting of the mission's plausibility for success, but was bidding on the idea that Seppuku would watch her closely.

Seppuku grabbed her by the shoulder before she could move, “If you don't see any of the parts laying around, do _not_ go inside the building. Come back and we'll tackle this heist together.”

“Right, then,” she acknowledged.

“Then go, and stay clear of Blaskovitz's goons.”

Chiya spun around with a puzzled face, “Who's Blaskovitz?”

Seppuku shook his hand and approached a building, “I'll tell you later, just get going.”

He proceeded to latch onto the wall of a building and climb. Chiya glanced at him while quietly walking toward the lot entrance, she was stunned and confused by the man's ability to climb the wall of a building so easily. His fingers were rarely hanging onto anything, rather, he somehow managed to hold on by pressing his fingers down with immense force.

The woman approached the lot entrance with wide eyes. The lot was much like a mini-fortress containing a junkyard of scrap metal. Chiya slipped into the entrance and got a closer look.

“Blimey…” she muttered in awe. There were close to twenty gang members walking around the court doing separate things. Her eyes quivered in fear at the fearsome size of each man. “Th- they're all so very muscular!” she panicked to herself.

Now very worried, Chiya looked up and spotted Seppuku. He managed to reach the rooftop with his rifle and now watched her with great focus. _Maybe he has some kind of silent sounding rifle that can save me if I get caught…_

Soon acknowledging the risk of getting caught at the entrance, Chiya dashed over to a pile of metal parts. She knelt behind the parts and took another look at her situation. Observing from over the scrap metal, Chiya could see that the mass of gang members were at work on a vehicle. She moved across more piles of scrap metal in careful search of what she needed. Initially, she could find nothing but scrap metal and parts on the ground. The parts she needed would likely be in the center of the lot—where she remained, there was nothing but expired pieces of machinery.

The Mysterian continued crawling alongside the rows of junk, she was coming especially close to some gangsters; the woman tried holding her breath in an attempt to remain silent. After crawling one more inch, she grit her teeth and widened her eyes; two men had walked in front of her.

Both gangsters were wearing red muscle shirts. The two had enormous muscles like everyone else, as both Red Star and the Bloody Chain alike were bodybuilding cults.

“Dude, I'm going to go work out!” one said while flexing his arm.

“Yeah, I wish I could, too. I'm waiting for that damn shipment to get here.”

Chiya was trembling greatly, but somehow remained unnoticed. The sad reality of the situation was that both men had their unrealistically large shoulders blocking their sight of Chiya, who was on her knees only about two meters from both. Neither could see past their shoulders to spot the Mysterian. Another gangster with white facial hair came walking in carrying three crates at once.

_Why is every person here so bloody muscular..!?_

“Here's the goods. Three packs of assault rifles and grenades.”

The tattooed man flailed his arms and lectured, “Put them in the back with the rest of the goods!”

 _The 'goods', that must be where the parts are…_ Her eyes centered on a building within the lot's center. Seppuku had ordered her not to go in without him. She looked up at his building and could just barely make out the image of Seppuku sitting on the roof with his rifle. Seppuku still needed to recover, she couldn't let him take on pressure by following her inside.

Chiya got back on her knees and carefully moved toward the entrance of the building, thus defying Seppuku's orders not to go in alone. Now at the entrance, Chiya checked behind her for enemies; everyone was either too distracted engineering or exercising. She quickly moved inside the building and dashed to the nearest crates she could find for cover. Nobody appeared to be in the immediate area, but she could hear metal chains clashing somewhere inside the building. There was a large window stretching a few feet across the hallway. With great caution, she ran to the window and looked through it; then lowered her eyelids with a pestered expression.

“Are you serious?”

Through the window was a massive fitness center. There were even more gang members in here than in the junkyard. This did mean, though, that she'd need to be especially careful while inside the building, for the smallest mistake could result in nearly fifty gangsters deploying from the room.

She looked to her left and could see a room full of objects and crates—a supply closet. This was almost certainly where she needed to be. She crept into the room and observed her surroundings, there were crates full of assault rifles, dumbbells, money, and other expensive things all over the room.

An attempt was made to lift up an assault rifle, but she he was having a difficult time lifting it for some reason. She soon realized that the barrel of the rifle had a chain attached to it, tied to the chain was a 40 pound dumbbell. Chiya raised an eyebrow at the strangely modified weapon. It sounded silly in theory, but was actually clever. Since the weapon had a weight on it, only strong individuals could properly wield such a weapon. Someone weak like Chiya would be unable to wield it.

Chiya looked up and spotted some large boxes on the upper shelves, the boxes were labeled by vehicle parts. With a brief scan of the upper shelf, she managed to locate a reactor. She grabbed onto the reactor, but fell to her knees due to its incredible weight. In the process of falling she had yelped. Fortunately, she retained possession of the box all the way down to the floor.

She opened the box with great speed and found a printed description on the metal part inside:

_'This reactor drive has been modified to fit Formula Zero machines. Installation on any ordinary vehicle may trigger a hazardous discharge of energy, for the safety of the user, an F-Zero license is required before purchasing.'_

Chiya grinned having found what she needed. A booster had momentarily been brought down as well, but Red Star seemed to lack a combat module. She could leave with two of the three needed parts. The combat module would need to be found elsewhere, but this wasn't a mandatory part required to get an F-Zero machine running, so she had everything that was needed.

Both boxes were stacked and lifted up. She spun around and bumped into someone. Her facial expression changed to an immediate look of fright, she gasped and widened her eyes.

“Well, well! Look what we have here...” a muscular goon said with a grin.

           

 

 

Minutes later, Chiya sat tied in a chair. There were four gang members standing in the small room, three of them were working out. One was standing in front of a computer trying to contact their boss. Chiya trembled greatly in her seat, now deeply in regret for her decision to partake in this mission. She looked at the computer screen on the wall as a muscular man with a silver-gold half shaved mohawk appeared onscreen, this was the boss of Red Star.

The boss and gang member who captured her discussed what to do with Chiya for a few minutes. The young Flower couldn't hear what the boss was saying from her position in the room, but she could tell that the man was pleased. There was a sense of doom in the woman's mind, she had forgotten what Seppuku told her; shoot if there was someone cornering her—instead she allowed herself to be captured.

The boss disconnected from the server, and so the man who captured her turned,  “Well, looks like we've got a young girl trying to steal our goods…” His fellow gang members turned with him.

Chiya looked at him with a quivering fake smile, “W- Well technically you stole them in the first place, so I'm not really the bad person here.”

The men laughed at her, finding her comment humorous. The central man put his large hands on both her arms, “Let's cut to the chase! We _know_ that you're working for the Bloody Chain!” Chiya lowered both her eyebrows in confusion, waiting patiently for him to continue, “I mean, just look at your clothes; a beanie hat? You're clearly one of Michael Chain's girls!”

Chiya glared at the man, “I'll have you know, a lot of people wear these from where I come from…”

The man tapped her shoulder with grinding teeth, “Our boss demands you tell us of your plans! What were you doing with our goods?”

“I'm not in the Bloody Chain! You'll get nothing out of interrogating me!”

“Oh, we'll do more than interrogate you, unless you spill the beans...”

Chiya tilted her head to the side in confusion, “What else could you-” she momentarily lowered her eyelids and sighed with a displeased expression. “You wouldn't take things that far, because that'd be illegal.”

The men exchanged queried glances, when all of a sudden the door to the room was kicked open. Chiya gasped and jolted her head up as Seppuku leapt into the room with a rifle ready. Before the men could turn to face the intruder, Seppuku had taken two shots. Two of the muscled men fell to the ground dead without a struggle. The other two got their fists ready to fight, both were knocked out cold as Seppuku dashed toward them and whacked their heads with his rifle. Both men were knocked out and fell to the ground. As soon as he could confirm that they were all dealt with, he rubbed his collarbone in discomfort.

Seppuku faced the tied woman, “Frankly, we don't have a need in our organization for a damsel. You need to stop getting yourself into these situations.”

Chiya shut her eyes and growled, “Bloody Hell! Just cut me free, please!”

The woman gasped and jolted upward as Seppuku fired his rifle toward her. She now had her head tucked down, but opened an eye and looked down at her side. Seppuku had shot the rope apart, rather than cutting it.

“A- Are you insane!?”

“Probably.”

Seppuku moved over to the computer and began searching through it for any storage devices, he found some removable parts. After collecting storage devices, he knelt down beside the four bodies and went through their pockets. Chiya stood up and brushed her arms in relief knowing that she made it out of yet another situation. Seppuku walked out of the room and inched his finger toward Chiya, asking her to follow him. The two went through some hallways and eventually came across the room full of goods, the two boxes were still stacked.

“You lift all of this and we'll get out of here,” he ordered.

Chiya whined in response, “Lift all of them? Why don't you lift one?”

Seppuku didn't answer, he waited for her to follow his instruction. Chiya got an irritated look before grabbing the boxes. They walked down the hallways without taking cover behind objects, Seppuku wasn't nearly as cautious.

Once they got to the entrance, Chiya tugged on his sleeve, “So, how do we get through this unnoticed?”

“Follow me.”

Chiya followed Seppuku outside into the junkyard, and to Chiya's surprise, he walked in front of all the gang members. Both Chiya and Seppuku had been spotted by everyone.

“I- I said 'unnoticed'!” she lectured.

Chiya hid behind the tall man in disbelief. _He can't possibly fight all these guys_ …

Gang members walked in front of the two, “You have guts showing up in Red Star territory, Seppuku!” yelled the pack leader.

Another gangster smashed a fist against his palm, “This is our territory! You made a bad mistake coming here!”

Seppuku's single action was to take out the key to the _Red Dove_ and press the autopilot button, “Sorry, I got lost. Let me get my machine and we'll leave…” he muttered in a calm tone.

Chiya was still hiding behind Seppuku in fear, preparing for the inevitable beating they would surely receive. The gang members all laughed at him, each finding Seppuku just as crazy.

“You really think we're just going to let you walk out of here alive? Do you realize that you're outnumbered two to twenty-”

The _Red Dove_ drove into the crowd of gangsters, thus propelling each one into the air like bowling pins. Seppuku walked toward the _Red Dove_ in a casual way.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

Chiya ran past him and leapt into the back of the _Red Dove_ , leaving Seppuku behind, “Yep! Ready to go! Let's leave this place now, please!”

Seppuku got in the machine and spun it around. The gang members were all ran toward the _Red Dove_ , but Seppuku drove off at maximum speed. Within seconds, the two were safely driving away from the area with the cargo safely placed in the back of the machine.

 

 

           

Chiya looked down at her feet with a disgraced look, “I'm sorry I went in without you. I was just worried you would hurt yourself some more.”

Seppuku turned his head and smirked, “I'm not surprised you took the hard path, and I don't think you made a bad decision.” Chiya raised her head in shock. “What you did wrong, however, was challenging my plan without thinking. If you were going in alone, you should have set my plan aside completely and went loose with your handgun once cornered. Remember, I can't decide completely for you, some things you need to use your own judgment on. But at least you're not dead.”

Chiya understood what he was telling her, but while tied up she had been contemplating whether or not to run away from Seppuku and return to the abandoned warehouse. This mission made it clear to her now that she may have jumped into a dirty business she wasn't fit for. Despite that Chiya's dream of becoming an F-Zero racer was now within reach—she was thinking of quitting.

           

 

 

A while later they made it back to the HQ safely. Seppuku immediately left his office and tended to his own work. Chiya met up with Earl again in the garage, where she now broke the news to him personally.

The man rubbed his chin with a slight frown, “So, you're thinking of leaving, even after going through all of that?”

Chiya crossed her arms with a frustrated look, “I didn't know what I was signing up for when I agreed to do this. I am no killer. While I admit living here is much nicer, I think I would be better off finding a more suitable job in the Upper City—like a waitress.”

Earl rubbed his chin with lowered eyebrows, “A waitress, eh? You know, if you hadn't been at the bar that day, Seppuku would have probably died. He may not seem very appreciative of you, but I think that's why he knows you belong here. He can see something in you that not many others see. Not even I, admittedly…”

Chiya sighed, under the presumption that she'd get in worse situations if she decided to stay with the two. She decided to take the safer path.

The Mysterian spoke her mind, “Well, you have the parts now, maybe you can just do something else with this F-Zero machine. But I don't think I want this, not if it means that I have to kill or risk being killed.”

The two gazed at each other for many moments, Earl quirked his mouth and sighed, “You know, I admit that I don't want to see you go...” Chiya puckered her lips with fair surprise. “We haven't known each other for a long time, but I already feel like you and I are great friends. I really love having someone around who actually cares about engineering, and I bet we have some other similar interests to enjoy.” Chiya now lowered her eyebrows with a frown, but was kept silent by a conclusive sentence. “But, Hell, I get it. I wish you'd reconsider, but I understand that you want to leave.”

Chiya continued staring at him for many moments, her mind went many places as she reconsidered her options. Despite everything she had just been told, she still turned away and proceeded into the lobby. Earl narrowed both his eyebrows with rising frustration now that she left.

“She's not that much younger than me, how can she be that stubborn?” he grumbled to himself.

 

 

 

Chiya walked back to her room with a frown. She grabbed her blanket, box of ammo, and prepared to turn off the lamp for the final time. Just before she could turn off the light, she had spotted something on her bed. She gazed at two mysterious brown objects without motion, then set down her things and raised an eyebrow.

She approached the mysterious items and discovered what they were. Two brown wallets were laying on the bed. She slowly opened a wallet and looked at the identity, to her surprise, the wallet belonged to one of the goons Seppuku had killed while she was tied up. She looked over the wallets in amazement, all of the licenses in the wallet were expired, but inside each were large quantities of cash. She took the money out and counted in awe, the other wallet contained much of the same. Ultimately, she collapsed onto her bed to look at all of the money Seppuku had just given her. This was stolen money, but regardless, Chiya was very intrigued.

The Mysterian shut her eyes and sighed after counting all of the money she earned. Despite the fact these goons were bad people, she couldn't resist accepting the money. After careful thinking, she put the blanket back onto her bed and the ammo box back on her bookshelf. Seppuku successfully pulled her back in through bribery.


	7. Lap 7

==Lap 8=

 

The following day, Chiya and Earl were together in the kitchen drinking coffee. Chiya sat in a cream colored soft chair while Earl leaned against the wall with crossed legs. The room was silent and the two were enjoying the new day. Chiya calmed down after a night of good sleep, she was especially pleased to possess money.

The Mysterian sniffed her coffee, and then the rim of the cup. Earl grinned at her, he could understand that someone who had been homeless for so long may be a bit out of touch with the world. Chiya's sniffing of the beverage and cup was practically forced because of her brain, which was likely trying to adapt to the idea that she was drinking a real beverage in a clean cup.

Earl closed his eyes and chuckled in an almost mocking way, “Alright, I'll bite. Why _did_ you decide to stay?” Chiya turned her attention onto him, but did not speak right away. “Last night you seemed pretty upset with Seppuku and ready to leave; this afternoon I wake up and find you in the kitchen.”

Chiya grinned back and shrugged, “Like you said, I was just angry at the time. After sleeping, I realize how nice it actually is here; and besides, I want that F-Zero machine,” she took a sip of her coffee.

The man slowly smirked at her, “That's it?”

She stopped sipping from her drink to smirk, “Yes, I also stayed because of your objection to me leaving.”

Earl dropped his smirk, “Well, hold on, I- I wouldn't say I was 'objecting' to you leaving. I just think you're a cool person I'd like to try and-”

Their conversation was interrupted as Seppuku kicked the kitchen door open, his scarf blew in the air as he stopped in the middle of the kitchen, “I got some useful intel from the storage device I looted from that Red Star computer.”

Chiya glanced at him without turning her head. Though she was indeed saved by Seppuku the previous night, her opinion of him had severely declined during that mission. He nearly let her fall victim to gang brutality, and the way he went about resolving the situation was more violent than it had to be. Seppuku wasn't exactly the hero she had always wanted to meet—he was no Captain Falcon, needless to say.

 Earl stood straight, “Did it contain the location of their hideout?”

“Nope, but it provided us with leads on where the Bloody Chain's hideout could be.”

Chiya set down her coffee and sighed, “What kind of lead are we talking about, exactly?”

 

 

A few minutes later the group stood in Seppuku's office next to a large screen on the wall. Seppuku pointed at a 3D image of Michael Chain's machine, the _Wild Boar_ , along with other identical machines.

Seppuku moved the 3D display around with a remote, “This data claims that the Bloody Chain commonly travel through the most police protected neighborhood of the Lower City, meaning they have something there of significance.”

Earl waved his hand in the air, “Perhaps they're getting supplies somewhere in that area.”

Seppuku pointed at him, “That's exactly what _you_ will be figuring out today.”

The mechanic's eyes widened, “M- Me?”

“And Flower, of course.”

Chiya sighed at the new assignment, “But we won't be assaulting anything this time, right?”

“Don't know,” was his honest response. “If you see the Wild Boar, you're to follow it. Wherever it ends up, I want to know. Hopefully this will give us the lead needed to finally nail Chain in the back of the head.”

The mission was straight forward and didn't require combat, yet, Chiya knew something was wrong. She crossed her arms and half pouted, “This seems like a mission that requires stealth. Can't you go do this?”

“Bendek, when you get back here, get the Red Dove prepared for the upcoming race.”

“You didn't answer my question...” Chiya complained.

Earl got an irritated look, “You know, it would be a lot easier to do this if you weren't bashing the Red Dove up every single night.”

Seppuku laughed, “Don't be silly, there's always room for bashing. Now get going, you two!”

Chiya rolled her eyes and walked out the door, Earl momentarily followed her out of the office. Earl only had a regular hover car to drive to their destination, it would stand no chance against an F-Zero machine, especially a heavyweight offensive machine like the _Wild Boar_. If the two were attacked by an F-Zero machine, the car would be smashed into pieces instantly. Earl, of course, wasn't going to tell Chiya this.

 

 

Moments later, Chiya and Earl were in the garage preparing to leave the base. The two approached his vehicle, a bland white and yellow hover car. He got in, turned on the ignition, then opened the massive garage door leading outside. As soon as they drove out of the garage Earl pressed a button above the dashboard of the vehicle that closed the garage door. Chiya was surprised to find that the garage door was disguised as a normal looking building on the outside, as if the door were just a metal wall. They began the drive to their destination, which was only minutes away.

The two were on their first mission together and Chiya was feeling somewhat shy. Earl was now considered a friend in her eyes, but she had only been living with him for a short while now. Earl seemed to be a fairly laid back person, thus not surprising her that he hit on girls at the bar scene. Chiya's gaze remained locked on the man for several moments. Earl glanced at her and caught her obsessive stare, but she made an immediate retreat by turning her head away. Earl smirked and raised a brow. He had been getting to know her since they first met, he could understand that she was perhaps mutually interested in getting to know him.

“So the interesting thing about F-Zero engines is that we're using one right now, only, it isn't supercharged,” Earl explained.

The Mysterian found slight offense in his attempt to start a conversation. Even he could admit to himself that this was a foolish thing to say, given Chiya's extended knowledge in engines.

“I know that,” she challenged.

Earl brushed off his foolish fact by nodding, “Alright, did you know the first combat module was fitted on a police cruiser for the purpose of comprehending criminals in car pursuits?”

“I just know about engines, because I used to work with them.” She placed a hand over her forehead and frowned, “M- My dad always warned me not to supercharge any of the engines we worked on.”

This enlisted Earl's interest, “But you knew how?”

“I pulled it off once in high school without much of a struggle, but the district confiscated and sold the supercharged engine.”

“And you didn't get any cash?”

She bloated her cheeks and shook negatively, “They considered the engine to be school property, obviously a loophole.”

“That is crap. Unless the money went toward education, in which case, good.” Earl glanced over at her and smiled, “I can see why Seppuku wanted you on the team, I just don't understand why he wants you for combat purposes.”

Chiya shrugged, “Why not?”

Earl puckered his lips while thinking, “Well, if you have even the simplest of talent in engineering, I would imagine he'd put you to work with me fixing the Red Dove.” Chiya hummed and rubbed her chin. She had to consider what he said, for he spoke the truth. _Is Seppuku just using me as a meat shield..?_ “But then again, you seem to lack self-confidence. He may be trying to help you in that sort by putting you through difficult situations.”

Chiya glared in response, “I have self-confidence! I- I just…”

For reasons unknown to her, Chiya could not find the words she wanted to use. Ultimately, she looked out the window with a disgruntled expression.

 

 

The remainder of the ride was awkward and silent. They soon parked the car in a hidden spot in case Michael Chain came causing havoc. Now, the two sat on a bench across from the street they were supposed to watch over. Both were gazing at a broken fountain located a block away. This fountain once served as a scenic part of the Lower City's park, which was now anything but lively.

Earl continued gazing toward the dead park, but Chiya found herself yet again staring at Earl. He looked like someone who lived to work and had no life outside of the garage. It had been established that Earl liked to hit on girls for the 'sport of kissing', but aside from this, Chiya had yet to hear a single one of his interests, excluding engineering. The loose ruffles of his brown hair waved along with the gentle winter breeze.

“Earl, how did you get mixed in with Seppuku?”

Earl widened his eyes, he momentarily smirked at the question. He looked straight forward aimlessly, “Well, as I recall, Seppuku had just joined F-Zero, he was a new racer, and I always liked new blood so I joined in as a Seppuku fan.”

“Was he bad at first?”

Earl scratched his head, “That's the strange thing. In his first ever race, he was already combating with Captain Falcon. It's as if he had been racing all his life. When the committee first announced his Prix entrance, a lot of us just thought he was a Captain Falcon clone, you know, cause of the 'Lieutenant' title and visor.” Chiya was intrigued by the fact Seppuku fought Captain Falcon on the track, this made Seppuku sound like a villain, considering he attacked a hero. “Strangely enough, his fan base still isn't very big. Anyways, one day I got to meet him in person, fan to racer, and we actually began talking for a bit. After a brief exchange of words he revealed his plan to start a small vigilante group comprising of two people, and oddly enough he was interested in me.”

“So you just joined him right there,” she guessed.

“Not quite, I volunteered to be his engineer. But all I wanted was work credit, no money. Not long after joining him he wanted me to build an F-Zero machine of my own and consider joining him on the track. And not long after that, he wanted me to do _these_ sorts of crazy missions with him. I did try leaving, but then I saw the money to be made here…”

Chiya widened her eyes at his reasoning: Money. The money was the same reason Chiya decided to stay. _What's Seppuku's game? Is it possible he just wants the gangs removed so he can establish his own rule down here..?_ Chiya decided not to think too far into this, and thus, she changed the subject.

“Hey, Earl, I noticed a helmet that looked familiar to Blood Falcon's. It's in the lobby.”

“That was the first thing I asked him about when I first arrived at the base. I've asked him about that for years, but he always claims to not know where he got it from.” Chiya was relieved to know she wasn't the only one somewhat troubled by this. “I, personally, think he's just ashamed to admit that it's a Blood Falcon souvenir. He was probably a Blood Falcon fan before joining the Grand Prix.”

 _Why would you put a souvenir in a display case, though..?_ Chiya was then startled as a metal ball rolled under the bench. Both Chiya and Earl gazed at the ball with raised brows. The Mysterian grabbed the ball and held it up.

“What's that?” asked Earl.

“I'm not sure…”

The ball remained in her hand for five more seconds, then let out a blinding light that flashed the eyes of both companions. Everything went white for Chiya and she quickly felt her life fading away, and then everything became dark. The last thing that came to Chiya's mind was that both had been killed by a grenade.

 

Chiya awoke much later, she was tied up to a chair yet again. She blinked and groaned a few times. Her eyesight remained affected by the bright light of the flashbang, though both the hue and saturation of her world slowly restored. She was relieved to find Earl tied up with her as well. The sense of relief was short lived, as she soon panicked by kicking her feet constantly. She was under the presumption that they were in the same room as last time. This, however, was a much different room.

“W- Where are we, Earl?”

He turned his head toward her, he had woken up far before Chiya, “Looks like Red Star caught us.”

“Red Star? I thought we were worrying about the Bloody Chain!”

Chiya looked around the room and found two blood-red banners with gold trimmed stars. Chiya was trembling at the situation they were in, only she was a little more relieved to have someone with her this time. Some chatter could be heard coming toward the only door in the room—someone was coming.

“What do they want with us?” she asked in fright.

Earl knew he had to try and keep Chiya calm as possible, “I have no idea. They probably want to gut us alive.”

Two muscular men charged into the room holding assault rifles, each rifle had a dumbbell chained to the barrel. Neither Chiya nor Earl said nothing, another person was about to enter the room. It was well likely that they were going to be talked to by someone before receiving their fate, the fact two men with assault rifles came in, typically, was not a good sign.

At last, the man running the show walked into the room, he had a very unique appearance. The man was very light skinned, had a half-shaved cream colored mohawk, green pants, long boots, and was wearing a bright red muscle shirt. What caught Chiya's immediate gaze was the mysterious symbol in the corner of his muscle shirt, a gold hammer and sickle; she recognized the symbol from her days on Mysteria. This was the boss of Red Star, _Brock Blaskovitz_.

Brock grinned and chuckled, “Looks like we finally captured the heart of Seppuku's army,” he said in a Russian accent.

“Blaskovitz, I presume?” Earl guessed.

He nodded back at him, “There will be no questions for me, Seppuku made the mistake of sending you to our favorite street. You were practically asking to be captured. I would ask you to thank him for me, but that will be quite impossible.”

“Seppuku, you damn fool…” Earl grumbled.

A frightened Chiya kicked her legs up, “What do you want with us?”

“I said no questions, female!” The veins in his arms began to pop. Chiya was disturbed by the sight of this and looked away from him. Brock proceeded to take small steps around the two, “You stole parts from us, so I know that you can engineer F-Zero. This is why I have decided to give you options.”

Chiya and Earl exchanged glances, fearful of what was to happen. Earl

Earl nodded, “What's up with this gang war anyways?”

Brock stood in front of the two with an angered expression, “I come from a different time—a different century, in a nation called the Soviet Union. I truly believed in the proletarian cause, I was a member of the secret service and frozen voluntarily in lab testing.”

Earl shook his head negatively, Brock didn't answer his question, “I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not very familiar with Europe.”

Brock continued, “You can imagine my surprise when I awake in the present day, to see that both the Soviet Union and United States have dissolved. I refused to let the soviet spirit die like this, so I formed Red Star to form a new union, to unite the struggling citizens of this city; just look how prosperous we have become!”

Chiya was left blinking in awe at the original part of his story, “So, you're a time traveler…”

Earl nodded at Brock again, “I see what you're saying, but why not just merge with the Bloody Chain? More power to you, if you do.”

The Russian spat on the ground, Chiya looked away in disgust, “The Bloody Chain are brutes, they have a different perspective on how things should be run, and I do not approve.” He clenched his large fist up before him, “I would rather relive death twenty times than unite with those steroid using thugs...”

Chiya swallowed and rolled her eyes, “So, about those options you mentioned...”

“Ah, yes. Option one is that I kill you two personally, option two is that you remain in our garage forever and work on our bikes.”

Earl smirked, “You guys ride bicycles?”

Brock grunted, Chiya proceeded to beam, “Oh, oh! I know how to fix bicycles!”

Earl nodded, “Yeah, man, you don't need us to fix bikes; that's nothing more than-”

The room was shook as a response to Brock's stomping, “Bikes! _Bikes_! Not bicycles, hover bikes!”

“So you want us to fix...  hover bikes?” Chiya asked with a displeased look

“-or we can just kill you,” he said putting his rifle right against Chiya's forehead.

Earl panicked with Chiya at gunpoint, “W- Well, I don't know what it was but you made the choice much easier for us!” he said before fake laughing.

Brock lowered his assault rifle, “I am glad you see things my way…”

 

 

Later on, Chiya and Earl worked inside a huge garage with many hover bikes. Two guards stood watching them near the only exit. The two had been assigned to ensure that all bikes worked properly and were in optimal condition.

Without turning her head, Chiya glanced at the guards, “Don't those guards need guns?”

Earl revealed a slight grin, “I don't usually joke around in these situations, but, their muscular arms are practically guns.”

Chiya was working on a hover bike, though not very efficiently. She was much more focused on finding a way out of the building. She glanced at the guards again, both were standing with crossed arms.

“We're not really going to keep doing this are we?” she whispered.

“Of course not, we just need to figure out how to escape.”

Chiya closed the panel of a bike, “Exactly, but how do we get past those guards?”

The two continued looking around the garage, the room itself was badly constructed and contained many holes, but with the guards watching, they would never get to search for an opening without looking suspicious. Chiya spun around and scanned for other doors in the room, but there were none. Aside from the guarded exited, the only other door was the massive garage door, which could only be opened via computer console.

Chiya opened up another panel to the bike and bent over to look inside. She was only scrubbing the bike's parts, though; she had no actual interest in helping Red Star. Earl continued scanning the garage for an exit, but soon spotted something else of interest. The man looked down at Chiya and puckered his lips in a perverse way. While staring at her, his eyes widened greatly. He scratched his head and looked away with a feeling of discomfort.

“So ignore the fact I was looking, but I notice something is bulging out of your right cheek…”

The Mysterian's eyes widened, followed by a blush, she turned around and hid her rear, “Th- That's just my wallet…“ Chiya then sprung up to her feet, “Wait, but they confiscated it…”

Chiya had a surprised look on her face and checked around her waist for the object, but she was not finding anything in her pockets. She quickly realized that the object was not in any pocket, but rather, in her shorts. She looked away from Earl in embarrassment and grabbed the object out from under her shorts. Earl widened his eyes upon identifying the object in her hand, but made no sound. Chiya brought it up to her face and gasped, it was the key to the _Red Dove_.

“Earl we have-”

“Ss—sh!”

Earl shook his hand constantly, signaling for her to be quiet. This was a discovery they couldn't reveal. For whatever the reason, Seppuku slipped his key into Chiya's rear when she wasn't looking. The only problem facing them was that they needed to get the garage door open. If they found a way to do this, they could easily break free by calling the _Red Dove_.

The engineer snapped his fingers constantly while thinking, then nodded, “Alright, I know what we can do. I'll go ask if we can use a fitness center to get some muscles, then maybe I can find where to open the garage door.”

“You think they have a fitness center in here?”

Earl lowered his eyelids, “...Chiya... of course these guys have a fitness center.

“Okay, given. But why would he just let us use the fitness center?”

He shrugged, “Honestly, it's just an idea I pitched. We could try persuading him to let us in.”

Chiya was considering this, then got a devious grin, “Actually yeah, you go do that, I have a plan of my own down here…”

Earl was skeptical of what Chiya had come up with, but he held his questions and walked toward the guards. Chiya turned around and knelt, then opened up a hover bike's engine. Earl approached the guards and put on a fake grin.

“Hey, since we're new here, I was wondering if I could see your fitness center? So that I can get packed.” Both guards seemed bothered by his question, and so Earl backtracked. “Uh, assuming you guys have a fitness center?”

One guard shot his arms up, “Of course we have a fitness center!”

The other guard bent over and pinched Earl's arm, “Yeah, bro! You could use some lifting! But you just wanna get out of here, I bet!”

Earl fake chuckled at the accusation, “Get out of here? I don't think I'm in a very good position to do that.. I'm scrawny compared to you guys, and also unarmed,”

The guard rubbed his chin and hummed, falling into Earl's trap, “I'll go ask the Boss!” he said before charging away.

The other guard was staring at Earl in a hostile way. Earl felt easily intimidated and looked away from him, now looking back at Chiya. She was still working on the bike's engine and didn't appear to have any actual intentions of helping. He sighed, presuming that her plan was actually to wait while he does everything himself. Earl was disappointed in Chiya, having originally thought of her as a braver person.

 

 

Meanwhile, Brock found himself reading literature online at his desk. He was wearing a pair of glasses and was biting down on his finger nervously.

He shook his head frantically, “No, don't, just apologize to her and be friends again!”

Just then, a guard ran into his office panting. A surprised Brock quickly hid his glasses and minimized the story.

“What is it?” he demanded.

“Sir, sir! That Korean is requesting access to the fitness center!”

Typically, Brock's response was negative. He struck his fist down and said, “Absolutely not! He just wants to escape from here.”

“But, sir, he says he wants to get muscles...”

The Russian lowered his eyelids and sighed, “It is true that I'm the messiah of bodybuilding. It is my obligatory duty to help build the muscles of those who desire such...”

 

 

 

Not long after the guard left, Brock came storming into the garage to meet Earl, “My guard says you want to leave already…”

Earl shook his head negatively, “Not true, not true. I want to see your fitness center, Seppuku never had one, so I thought maybe that would motivate me to work more efficiently.” Brock hummed in discontent at Earl, initially not buying the story. “Hey, I'm a wild person. If I like what I see, I might even end up becoming an official Red Star supporter.”

Brock was rubbing his forehead head in suspicion, he searched Earl's eyes for signs of fear. “I do not trust you, so I will act as a trainer. Follow me.”

Earl widened his eyes, “O- Oh... great!”

This plan was sinking fast. Earl wasn't too surprised that he would be watched if he managed to leave the garage, but having the boss watch him wasn't going to work. If it were anyone else watching Earl in the fitness center, then there may have been an opportunity to bribe them, but instead, he had the leader watching. If anything, Earl would be coming out of this plan with bruises and exhausted muscles.

 

 

Moments later, the two walked into a large room full of equipment and weights. Nearly eighty gangsters were exercising in the room, Brock and Earl stepped down a fleet of stairs to the bottom. The center was filled with the moans and grunts of exercising men, this was disturbing Earl.

“This is it!” Brock announced with pride.

Earl was amazed by how expensive the room must have been, he could only imagine that most of this equipment had been stolen. The equipment appeared to be top of the line in the field of bodybuilding.

Brock offered his strict instructions, “You may work here if you wish, but only when I am present.”

Earl nodded and looked around for something to do. The new plan was to exercise long enough for Brock to need a restroom break, this would hopefully give Earl time to run. Of course, this was assuming that Earl could take on the pressure of heavy lifting for so long.

One gang member called for Brock, “Boss, Boss! I'm bench pressing five hundred pounds! Come spot me, bro!”

Brock grunted, “Five hundred? Nice! I must spot you!” The gang leader abandoned Earl and approached the working man.

Earl was stunned at how fast his opportunity had come, he found this the best opportunity to run and find a way to open the garage door. He stepped back toward the stairs and climbed it, he did so without making a sound—as if it matter—not a sound could be heard past the constant grunting and machinery at work.

He entered the main hallway and now had to hurry and find the main computer before he was uncovered. His initial guess was that the computer could be found in Brock's office, if not, he'd have to think quickly and perhaps leave the Red Star HQ without Chiya. In that event, he could get Seppuku and come back.

 

 

 

Chiya, in the meantime, worked on another hover bike. The woman's eyes widened as one of the two guards approached her from behind. She could sense someone towering over her, but was pretending not to notice. Her fear expanded as a large meaty arm slammed against the hover bike she was working on. With trembling eyes, she looked up and found one of the massive goons looking down at her with a grin.

“This is my bike you're working on. Pretty sweet, huh?”

Chiya nodded with her teeth gritted, “Y- Yes, it's very nice...”

The gangster scratched his throat and rolled his eyes, “You know, I was thinking that, maybe, my bike would be more sweet if you gave it a new slick decal...”

The Mysterian scratched the back of her head, choosing not to respond. Suddenly her beanie hat was pulled off by the guard. She turned with a glare, “I'd like that back, please…”

“Sure, sure…“ The muscular man placed the hat over her face and proceeded to twirl his foot around in small circles, “You know, you look pretty without your hat on...” he flirted.

Chiya widened her eyes in absolute shock. _Oh God, is this seriously happening, here and now..!?_

“I was thinking that maybe I could turn on my bike and drive you around town, if you want. You'll love it.”

“No!” Chiya responded with very wide eyes.

The guard was staring at her in confusion, the response given was very frantic and almost desperate. She realized how suspicious this sounded, and thus closed her eyes to giggle, “It's, u—uh, it's not ready yet. Don't turn it on…”

The guard remained still, but momentarily shrugged and walked away. Chiya exhaled in great relief and turned toward the bike again, “Come on, Earl...”

 

 

Earl located the master computer in Brock's office. Earl was now searching through the computer for the building access section, he was familiar with this type of computer system and knew there was a security command panel. This would allow him to open the garage door. While searching, Earl came across a map of the structure's location in the Lower City. He caught a quick glimpse of the area they were in, but had more serious things to attend to.

He soon came across the building access section. Without hesitation he pressed the large red button labeled ' _Emergency: Open All'_. Immediately upon clicking this, he realized the mistake he had made. The entire building flashed red with a siren going off.

“Oops…”

Chiya had finished one last hover bike before noticing that the garage door was opening. She began to panic, and without hesitation, clicked the button on the key, thus calling for the _Red Dove_ to autopilot to this location. If the _Red Dove_ failed to come from the base to their current position, Chiya and Earl would need to, literally, run for their life.

In the fitness center, Brock stopped watching his gangster exercise and spun around, Earl was nowhere to be seen. The Russian growled and clapped his hands together.

“Find him!”

 

 

Earl grabbed a blunt object off the desk and smashed the computer, this destroyed it. By destroying the computer, Red Star would be severely set back for awhile, as they would no longer have any of their most valued information. Earl was about to leave, when suddenly, Brock and three other goons ran up to the door. Earl grunted at the furious gang leader in surprise and stopped. Brock was already angry, but became angrier after noticing the smashed computer.

“You deadbeat Korean!”

“Oh, Blaskovitz! Uh, I was just leaving!” Earl dived underneath the three and proceeded to run.

“After him!” Brock ordered

Earl was chased down the hallway by everyone in the immediate area. One of the goons grabbed an assault rifle attached to the wall and tried taking aim at Earl. They fired, but Earl rounded the corner just in time.

Everyone had left the garage but Chiya, who had finished working on the last bike. She was hiding behind one of the bikes while waiting for Earl and the _Red Dove_. Earl soon ran in with about ten gangsters chasing him, luckily, his timing was perfect just in time, for the _Red Dove_ had just drove inside the garage with an opened cockpit.

There was no exchange of words between the two friends, Chiya leapt into the drivers seat and set the GPS system for Seppuku's base. “Come on, Earl, it's time to go!”

Earl jumped in the backseat. Without sitting down, he grabbed the cockpit window and slammed it shut himself. Chiya buckled herself in and drove away moments after the cockpit closed. Brock ran up to the opened garage door and stomped his foot angrily at the escaping _Red Dove_.

“Come on, you fools, get on your bikes and kill those two!”

As ordered, several gangsters mounted their hover bikes with the mission of hunting the two down.

 

Now driving away from the Red Star HQ, Earl wrapped his arms around Chiya's seat and expressed his concern.

“Chiya, they're going to swarm us once they all get on their bikes!”

Chiya nodded while trying to maneuver the broken infrastructure, “Remember that plan I told you I had?”

 

 

 

The gangster kicked on their bikes, Brock crossed his arms with grinding teeth, “Bring me their heads!”

The bikes all took off, but then exploded before making it out of the garage. Smoke and debris blew Brock back a few meters. He wiped his face and waited for the dust to settle.

“Wh- What!?”

Every single bike engine was shot, the energy compartment of each engine had pulverized. One gang member jumped off his bike and observed his bike, “Our engines, th- they were improperly supercharged!” he explained to Brock loudly.

Brock screamed into the air with fury before walking toward a special storage room in the garage. “So, they have an F-Zero machine. Two can play at that game!” he yelled while opening the door. Inside was a red hover bike. This was the only existing F-Zero machine ever made in the form of a bike. “If you want something done right, you do it yourself,” Brock said as he started up the engine.

The side of the F-Zero bike was labeled ' _Stalin's Might'_ , the bike was not an officially registered F-Zero machine, however. He took off at a fast speed and dodged all of the destroyed hover bikes. He was confident that he could intercept Chiya and Earl quickly, all by himself.

 

 

Chiya looked back at Earl, “Looks like we're home free!” she said with a happy smile.

Earl looked to their rear and could see the _Stalin's Might_ approaching them, “Not quite!” he said pointing back.

The Mysterian gasped at the unfamiliar type of F-Zero machine approaching them. Brock was grinding his teeth at the very thought of smashing the _Red Dove_.

“Chiya, you're going to have to combat him. Just quickly shift left while holding down the combat button when he's in sight.”

She searched for the combat button on her steering wheel, then found it on top. “Got it!”

The _Stalin's Might_ was seconds away from making contact with the _Red Dove_. Brock was shifting to the left in preparation to perform a side attack. The thought of a mere hover bike having enough firepower to slam into an F-Zero machine was incredible. Chiya was starting to panic at the limited options she had, but then got an idea. She moved more to the far right and now hugged the curb.

“What are you doing!?” a frantic Earl asked.

“Going to try and trick him…”

The _Red Dove_ was now hovering over the sidewalk and driving along the buildings. Brock was now aligned to the far left of Chiya and began shifting to the right some more. He was in a good position to pin her against the walls of the buildings.

Earl grasped Chiya's chair,“No, you can't do this! You're going to get us killed if you leave us this open for an attack.”

Chiya brushed off the warning and waited for a specific moment. The _Stalin's Might_ was now in range for a perfect attack. Chiya hit the brakes the first second the _Stalin's Might_ moved toward the _Red Dove._ Brock commenced a side attack, but was caught off guard by Chiya's sudden stop.

The Russian ended up beating against the buildings. Sparks flew as the _Stalin's Might_ scraped along the buildings, he struggled to regain control.

“Good one, but that's only making him angrier,” said Earl.

Brock spun his bike around and faced the _Red Dove_ head on. He then growled to himself, “Not bad, but I must finish you now...”

Suddenly, another F-Zero machine approached the two with about ten other similar looking machines. It was the _Wild Boar_ , Michael Chain made the scene. The Bloody Chain all drove machines that closely resembled the _Wild Boar_ , but these machines were gray rather than orange and had no combat modules or boosters.

Brock looked at his limited options and slammed both arms on the dashboard of the _Stalin's Might_ in rage. He decided to retreat, rather than fight. For reasons unknown, the _Red Dove_ was disregarded by the Bloody Chain, who pursued Brock Blaskovitz instead.

Chiya and Earl were both left with dropped jaws at what had just happened. The Bloody Chain indirectly saved the two, but this was a complete coincidence. Had Brock not decided to chase them down, the two would have run into the Bloody Chain—arguably a more difficult foe.

Earl shrugged and looked at Chiya, “Well then, let's go home,” an exhausted Earl spoke silently.

Seppuku was sitting in his office working on the computer. All was calm in the world of Lieutenant Seppuku until Chiya and Earl stormed into the room.

“What the Hell was that all about!?” Earl shouted.

Seppuku waved with a calm face, “Hi.”

Chiya put the _Red Dove'_ s key on the desk, Seppuku grabbed it and put it back in his coat pocket. Earl was waiting for a response but was getting nowhere. Seppuku, in fact, appeared to be waiting for Earl to speak.

“Alright, how did you mess up that badly? You sent us into a Red Star hot zone, where we were captured. We barely made it out of there alive!”

Seppuku chuckled, “This is why I put that key in Chiya's shorts.”

Earl and Chiya both got shocked expressions, “What!?” they both responded.

The Man of Darkness folded his arms together and leaned over his desk, “I knew you would find nothing at that area, but I realize that Red Star is commonly watching over that area for Bloody Chain gangsters. If you waited long enough, it was inevitable that someone would find you two sitting around and take you back to their base. If I played my cards right that is, and as long as Chiya didn't do anything stupid.”

Chiya glared at Seppuku, “So you weren't even sure if we'd survive that encounter!?”

He went back onto his computer, “I already went and got your car, Bendek. Now I can look on the Red Dove's GPS and get the location of their HQ whenever I wish, considering Chiya called for it at that location.”

Earl growled, “I see how it is then. I don't want to be part of _those_ kinds of missions anymore, and neither does Chiya.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and nodded in agreement, “Hm!”

Seppuku grunted in surprised discontent, but nodded, “Fine...”

In the long run what had happened was that Seppuku set everything up. He wanted Chiya and Earl to go to this apparent Bloody Chain infested area just to be captured by Red Star. If things went as he planned, they would have taken the two straight to Brock Blaskovitz, which is why Seppuku put the _Red Dove_ 's key in Chiya's shorts. Now he had a bookmarked location of the Red Star HQ—a major milestone in his mission to end the gang war.

The two awaited for further orders, though both were filled to the brim with dissent. Seppuku knew best not to further provoke either of the two, or else risk both leaving or starting a workers' union.

“As I said, get the Red Dove ready for the next race. I have nothing for either of you to do tomorrow.”

Chiya was angry, but now realized that she could go and spend some money on much needed things in the Upper City. The first time in her life. The risk of being ambushed by gang members remained, but Red Star was severely crippled without their gang bikes, leaving only the possibility of a Bloody Chain encounter.

 

 

Later on that night, everyone was asleep except for Seppuku, who was out in Mute City hunting for crime. Chiya had awoken and felt the need to go for a walk. She quietly roamed the hallways while thinking about many things. Once again, sleep calmed Chiya down and settled any resentful thoughts she may have had. She was excited for the following day, as she would be able to do whatever she wants with all of the money she now possesses.

She entered the lobby and looked at the display cases, the one thing she immediately walked over to was the Blood Falcon helmet. Her gaze was undying, Earl's claim of this being a souvenir simply didn't add up, for it was practically destroyed. There was no doubting Earl's friendly person, she knew he was a true friend to have. Seppuku, however, had many secrets behind him.

After today's events, it had become clear to her that the lives of Seppuku's allies were expendable. This was making Chiya even more stressed; he may have saved her twice, but he had also gotten her in grave danger twice as well. Now that she was associated with the man, Seppuku no longer seemed to be the hero she first thought of him as. At first he seemed like a dark hero, but now he seemed to be a plain madman with a large plan. Chiya needed answers to the ultimate question of whether or not Seppuku acted under justice or himself. She wouldn't stop thinking about this until the answer was found.


	8. Lap 8

==Lap 9=

 

Chiya was standing still firing her handgun constantly. Gun shells were surrounding the woman on the metal floor in large numbers. She had a new handgun, but it was the same type as before. Brock Blaskovitz confiscated her original handgun during capture.

One bullet was left in the chamber. She had to make this final shot count, otherwise suffer the repercussions of failure. She fired the last bullet, then lowered her handgun. The facial expression of the woman was calm, yet disappointed.

Seppuku ran up to her and flapped his arms, “Flower!” he shouted angrily. Chiya glanced at him with wide eyes, “That was terrible! You may have hit most of the targets, but you only grazed the edges! That last shot didn't even hit a damn thing!”

The day had passed, and Chiya found herself practicing inside the shooting range, yet another large room that the base contained. This was her first time in the room, though not on a positive note. There was a wide area with pop up targets behind a railing, Chiya had been shooting these targets—or at least tried to.

Chiya holstered her pistol and stuck her tongue out, “Well I never pictured myself blowing things up with this machine gun anyways.”

Seppuku face palmed, “That is not a machine gun… that is a pistol.”

“Whatever, same thing.”

The man stomped his foot down, “They most certainly are not the same thing!”

“They are both guns, and guns kill people.”

Chiya was surprised all of a sudden as Seppuku grabbed her roughly by the arm, “Idiot, guns don't kill people; I kill people!”

The 'argument' between the two had been interrupted as Earl charged into the room, he was panting immensely. Seppuku and Chiya both turned towards him, Chiya did so with a very concerned face. Seppuku approached him, assuming that he had something important to say.

“Se- Seppuku, the Galactic Federation is on the phone. They wish to speak to you right away!” Earl panicked.

Seppuku gasped and took a step back in shock, “How the Hell did they track me down!? Not even the gangs know where this base is!”

Earl shrugged, “No idea, but they don't sound happy.”

Seppuku said nothing more to Earl on the matter, and so he walked back to his office angrily. Earl looked down at Chiya who appeared more confused than anyone else in the room. Chiya and Earl both followed Seppuku back to his office.

 

 

 

A few moments later, Seppuku was communicating with the Galactic Space Federation in his office via phone. Earl and Chiya were standing by silently, waiting for him to wrap up his conversation. The Galactic Federation was the major intergalactic alliance of the universe—basically serving as a futuristic United Nations. The Federation also had a universal police force, going anywhere from simple officers to the special task force that notable people like Rick Wheeler were in. It could be argued that the Federation owned the entire universe, except for certain planets like Mysteria and Magica, which remained independent.

Seppuku slammed his fist down, “No, no, no! We're going to talk right here!” he demanded into the phone.

Chiya began to tremble. She couldn't imagine what Seppuku did that could get him involved with the Federation. If the Galactic Federation had requested him, it was probably not for good intentions. Since the Federation was a natural enemy of the planet Mysteria, Chiya wasn't very familiar with how they operated. Chiya had been taught by her planet to hate the Federation, as Seppuku once said, they had brainwashed her.

The man brought the phone up to his other ear and nodded, “Yeah, okay, great! I'll see you soon, you damn bat!”

He slammed the phone down, nearly breaking it in the process in what could be seen as passionate rage. He continued staring at the computer screen, but momentarily looked into Chiya's eyes with great intimidation. The woman almost felt like sweating because of his horrific state. Seppuku continued staring into her eyes for several moments. Chiya moved her eyes slightly, now feeling very uncomfortable.

“S- So, have you always had that hat?” she asked with a nervous smile.

“Dammit, shut up, Flower!”

Chiya's eyes began to water at his demand, feeling hurt by his hostile nature. Earl glared at the tall man for bursting at Chiya like so. Seppuku then stood up and walked toward the door, he was practically stomping with every step he took.

“We're expected at the Galactic Federation HQ in the Upper City. They didn't state what they want,” he explained angrily.

Earl's eyes widened, “ _We're_? You mean they know who we are as well?”

“No, but you two are coming with me anyways,” he responded coldly.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows nervously, feeling that he was going to try and pull them down with him if something were to go wrong. Seppuku's recent shenanigans demonstrated that he couldn't care less about what happens to the two, he seemed to only care that the two don't die. Still, Chiya had little of a choice but to tag along. Seppuku knew she was a run away Mysterian and could certainly inform the Federation about this if he so desired. If the _stories_ she was told on Mysteria were true, the Federation would starve, torture, and then execute her via firing squad.

She gulped with watery eyes and grit her teeth, then turned toward Earl. He appeared more frustrated than afraid. The expressions of both men were proof enough that only bad would come from this day. She came from a planet that despised the Federation, and now it was time for her to meet them; something no ordinary Mysterian ever got to do.

 

 

 

The three wasted no time entering the garage. Seppuku signaled for the _Red Dove_ to open its cockpit. Chiya and Earl were to drive the ordinary car and would need to somehow keep up with the _Red Dove_. Chiya sat in the passenger's seat as Earl got in the driver's seat. Both friends were feeling uncomfortable by Seppuku's sudden attitude, it was even worse than usual.

Seppuku drove away before the two could even buckle up. Earl let out a disgruntled growl and smacked both hands against the steering wheel.

“Damn! Will that man just calm down!?”

Chiya looked at Earl with fearful eyes, she was the only one not fuming with rage. Earl hit the accelerator and tried keeping up with the _Red Dove_ , Seppuku was at least patient enough to drive at a slow speed. An F-Zero machine could go four times as fast as a regular automobile; typically, though, the Upper City enforced regular speed limits. Chiya glanced at Earl again, now curious over his frustration toward Seppuku.

“Why is Seppuku so upset about this? I mean, I think I get why, but he's usually so cool-headed about everything else,” Chiya asked in a relaxing tone.

Earl responded with a fake laugh, “You'll find out not long from now. Let's just start off by saying he and the Federation do not see eye to eye with each other…”

“Well, he made that much clear over the phone,” she muttered silently.

Earl exhaled and tried calming down for Chiya's sake, “I'll be honest, I'm not scared about what they want with him, I'm afraid of how he's going to act in front of Jody Summer...” Chiya glared at the mentioning of the woman's name. “When it comes to Jody Summer, Seppuku can act a bit, unusual...”

“J- Jody Summer!?”

“You know her?”

Chiya nodded heavily, “She's the one who called for the slaughtering of many Mysterian soldiers and citizens alike. Many more were brought here to Earth and placed in termination camps!”

Earl widened his eyes before giving her a very puzzled look, “I don't know what kind of history book you were reading, but that's a bunch of crap.”

“It's true! I learned about it in school!”

The man's gaze went out the window and toward the Federation HQ, a tower erecting higher than any in the universe. “I hate to break it to you, Chi', but the Mysterian government has a tendency to... _exaggerate_.”

Chiya frowned, “You don't believe me?”

“Trust me, there are no death camps of any sort on any Federation planet.”

The HQ was a far distance away from Seppuku's base, but only a bit away from the race track she had been to. Chiya was able to walk to the track in the beginning of her adventure, so this wouldn't be a long drive.

Chiya pushed her legs together and looked down at her feet, “Do you like Seppuku?” The tone of her voice conveyed to Earl that she was asking herself the same question.

Earl sighed and looked up at the _Red Dove_ , “He isn't a bad person, I promise you that. Even if you were his own flesh and blood he would treat you the same way. The man has that kind of attitude about things, and unfortunately, he's very stubborn.”

“He kind of reminds me of Captain Falcon, he has a similar face—but lacks the sexy muscles,” Chiya pointed out.

Earl nodded, “He has similar facial features , but actually does have muscles, he just never reveals them because he is always wearing that dark coat of his.”

Chiya held her cheek and hummed, a good question she had was where Seppuku had obtained the _Red Dove_. Like the body of her future machine, she was under the presumption that, perhaps, he acquired it from the Federation. She wasn't surprised that someone as evil looking and dark hearted as Seppuku would once serve the Federation—but this was her brainwashed Mysterian mind at work.

The mechanic pointed his finger against her face, “Never mention Captain Falcon to Seppuku. He gets worked up and sometimes aggressive.”

“Why's that?”

Chiya was still trying to understand who's side Seppuku was on, good or evil. So far he seemed to possess both good and bad traits.

“Not sure, anytime he sees Captain Falcon's image he gets all angry. Even in the Grand Prix he tries pushing Captain Falcon around, but this also applies for Blood Falcon. He seems to just hate both their guts. To be fair, he seems to hate Blood Falcon most of all.”

 _If he hates both a good and bad guy, he must be neutral…_ Chiya thought in puzzlement.

           

 

 

The two continued speaking about more casual topics as they arrived in the Upper City. Chiya was always amazed by the vast level of differences in this part of the city in contrast to the Lower City. Likely the most noticeable difference with the Upper City for Chiya was the existing traffic. The Lower City was a ghost town compared to this. Other notable differences were that there were more lights on buildings, many pedestrians, a body of water, and ships flying around in the distance.

Earl pointed toward the pedestrians on the sidewalk, “See that? Look how excited everyone gets when an F-Zero machine drives through your ordinary road. It's crazy.”

Chiya looked outside and widened her eyes. He was right, people were pointing, vehicles were pulling over, and some people were taking photos. Chiya was originally like these people and would be doing the same if it weren't for the fact that she now worked so closely to an F-Zero racer. But this only applied to the _Red Dove_. If she were to see the _Blue Falcon_ , she too, would get excited.

           

 

 

A few minutes later the three all met up in front of the Federation HQ. Seppuku appeared to be back in his calm state, standing still with his coat blowing along with the cold winter breeze. His dark appearance was unfitting in such a happier looking part of Mute City. He looked over at the two and signaled for them to follow. They all walked together through the door.

Chiya was amazed by how advanced this building was compared to most Lower City buildings—such as the now destroyed Rough Odds. What truly puzzled Chiya was that no one had come to guide Seppuku, he just proceeded through the building as though he knew it by heart. Chiya had no idea what was going on, but Seppuku clearly knew what he was doing. What was truly strange, though, was when they came to a door requiring computerized access. Seppuku had pulled out a card and swiped it in, doing so gave him access to an elevator. Chiya was beyond confused but did not speak, fearing that she would receive yet another negative comment.

The door opened and revealed an elevator. The three stepped inside and Seppuku entered in which floor he wished to go to on a screen. The door closed, and Seppuku looked down at the ground with a strict look.

“Flower, when we get up there, you will not speak unless instructed to.”

Chiya nodded affirmatively, Earl raised the next question, “What about me?”

“You can speak, but only if it's about me and a compliment.”

 They waited for the elevator to take them up all the way. Chiya and Earl exchanged glances, Seppuku remained looking forward without motion. Moments later, the door opened and they stepped forward into a hallway leading to several offices. Seppuku led the two into a comfortable looking room with huge windows, then shut the door behind them. Chiya now knew for a fact that Seppuku had been here in the past, the card he used on the elevator supported this.

Everyone but Seppuku jumped up as the loud clicking of a heel echoed throughout the entire floor. A woman standing tall in front of a window turned and greeted Seppuku with a cold stare. Her brown hair was longer than her entire torso, her blue German eyes unbreakable, and her facial expression strict as a professor. This was Jody Summer, chief commander and spokeswoman of the Galactic Space Federation, she was also an F-Zero racer piloting the _White Cat_.

“Lieutenant Seppuku...” she greeted with no emotion.

“Yo,” he greeted back.

A moment of silence was drawn between the two. Both were of very similar height, and to Chiya's surprise, of similar levels of intimidation. The looks being exchanged conveyed the fact that the two had a past together—a bad one.

Jody closed her eyes and cleared her throat with a straight posture, “Seppuku, we've had e-”

“How did you track me down?” Seppuku demanded.

“We've always known where you operate,” she responded with narrowed eyes. Chiya felt that this conversation was going to get very tension filled, it had only been seconds and Seppuku already seemed to be running the conversation. “Seppuku, we've had it with your illegal thug group. You've left hundreds of people thinking we were attacked by terrorists yesterday when all those explosions went off in that Red Star complex yesterday. And we know this was of your doing!”

“Hang on a minute!” Seppuku shouted whilst flapping his arms. He spun around and faced Chiya with an excited expression, “You blew things up yesterday!? Progress! I'm so proud of you, Flower!”

Chiya was heavily disturbed by the strange change of attitude, “Thanks..?”

Jody face palmed and sighed, “Seppuku, you can't be doing these things. You don't work for the Federation anymore.”

“Damn right I don't. At least I get the job done!”

Jody slammed her eyes shut while growling, then exhaled, “Since you insist on being a child, I'll cut to the chase. You are going to stop getting involved in this gang war, or we'll have you arrested.”

Seppuku chuckled, his sharp teeth were revealed, “Arrested? You mean like you did with Michael Chain, Black Shadow, Blood Falcon, Brock Blaskovitz, and Samurai Goroh?” Jody's eyes narrowed with fuming rage. “Oh, wait a minute, you haven't arrested any of those major criminals.”

Jody poked his chest with intense strength, “We have this gang war under control! You are only promoting more violence, by using violence!”

“And where is this supposed control? Was it in that bar that exploded?”

 _Why is he challenging her so much, he could get us all in trouble..!_ Chiya thought to herself. Chiya glanced at Earl, who had a look of discontent. She now understood why Earl was worrying about Seppuku's behavior.

Jody continued her lecture, “You're not appreciating what help we _have_ been able to provide the Lower City with.”

Seppuku grunted in disgust at her comment, “What a bold statement. I'm glad you people fired me. I was such a fool back then, pretending to help people while spending all of my money on spectacular clothing like yours.” He chuckled once more with his head dipped, “You're looking very pretty today, Ms. Summer.”

Jody grunted with a glare and proceeded to grind her teeth, “Mr. Bendek, get him out of here. I've said what needed to be said.”

Earl grabbed Seppuku by the arm and began dragging him away. “Oh, and I'm looking forward to kicking your ass in the Grand Prix!” Seppuku shouted on his way out.

Next, Jody looked at Chiya with two narrowed eyes. “ _You_ , stay here,” she ordered with a straight finger.

Chiya stopped and widened her eyes, “Yes, ma'am?”

Seppuku stepped toward the door and grunted, “Don't listen to her, Flower! Jody's a horrible person! She beats kittens for fun!“

Jody slammed the door in his face, “Idiot...” She then turned towards Chiya with a serious look. “What are you doing with this man?”

“O- Oh, um! ...blimey...” Chiya was trying to think of a safe answer, but was struggling, “U—uh, well, he saved me from a bad fate and took me off the streets into a better home.” Chiya swallowed while trying to look into Jody's cold eyes. She had the same intimidating stare as Seppuku, except Chiya could see this person's actual blue eyes. “He basically gave me a second chance…”

“You're hanging around a bad crowd, you should leave now before you get yourself into trouble,” she warned.

Chiya bit her lip, “I'm not sure I understand, what's Seppuku doing wrong?”

Jody brushed her hair aside, “He's interfering with police business. He no longer works here, plus, what he is doing is dangerous, disruptive, and against the law. Contrary to what you may think, he is not helping the Lower City in any way.”

The Mysterian looked back, making sure that the door was shut, “Why did Seppuku get fired from the Federation?” she whispered.

Jody walked over to the large window and looked down upon the vast amount of buildings in Mute City, “Let's just say, his method of working was a bit unorthodox. We had to get rid of him.” Jody put her hand on the window and looked down sadly, “Admittedly, losing him was a huge loss for the Federation. He was a natural born task force agent, but he just had some kind of lust for blood and general violence, he believed criminals deserved nothing but a cold death…”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and rolled her gaze down toward the floor. _He also enjoys hunting for criminals, to make it a game..._

“He was, of course, very angry when we fired him. You can imagine my surprise after I discovered he would be F-Zero racing for the first time that same year. To be honest, it didn't surprise anyone when he decided to continue crime fighting by his own rules. I just wish he would be less senseless when crime fighting down there.”

Chiya nodded, “I agree.”

The chief commander grinned, “So you'll run from him?”

An exchange of gazes were made. Jody Summer was regarded as one of the most hated figures on Mysteria, now Chiya was being faced by her. Many on her planet believed Jody to not even be human, but rather, a spawn of Satan. This Mysterian could tell that these were indeed exaggerations, Jody was no more than a servant of justice. Now she was asking Chiya to return to her life as a homeless civilian.

“No.”

Jody was surprised by this answer, then shook her head in disapproval, “I see. Just wait, you'll soon meet with an unlikely fate if you continue living with him.”

Chiya was becoming offended by her lack of faith in Seppuku, and so she glared. “Nothing will happen. Once this gang war is resolved, Seppuku will probably retire and focus on F-Zero. You'll see.”

Jody let out a single laugh while continuing to shake, “Fine, but let me tell you this. _No matter what, do not attach yourself too much to your companions. One day it will lead to suffering_ …”

The cryptic sentence Jody had just spoken left a chill down Chiya's spine. Without saying anything else Chiya turned and walked toward the door. Chiya was ultimately siding with Seppuku through this encounter, finding Jody somewhat aggressive and manipulative. Before she could exit, Jody had one more question.

“Where are you from?”

Chiya widened her eyes and stopped, “Bl- Bloody Hell. Where am I from, you ask?”

“Yes, you have a beautiful and unique appearance I haven't seen here in Mute City. Your voice is also very soothing.”

The Mysterian gulped, “Seppuku says my accent is annoying...”

“Where do you hail from?”

Chiya faced Jody with a slight tremble, this was the one person she did not want to reveal her Mysterian background to. Jody was already seeking to have Chiya removed from Seppuku's organization, there would be no easier way of doing this than to deport her back to Mysteria.

“Wh- Where do I hail from?”

“Yes, your home. Where is it?”

The question was a bullet situated in a gun's chamber. Chiya's answer could squeeze the trigger. Jody blinked a single time, then rolled her eyes in clear irritation.

“May I take a jab and assume you're from Iceland?”

“I- Iceland?” Jody raised an eyebrow, Chiya grit her teeth and nodded with a fake smile. “Oh, yes! Iceland! I am an Icelander.”

Jody blinked again, then nodded, “I could tell by your pale skin and beauty.” She then turned away from Chiya and swished her hand back, “Begone.”

Seppuku and Earl had been waiting for Chiya to come out of the room. The first moment Seppuku saw Chiya, he marched over to her and installed his demand, “What did that bat say about me!?”

            Chiya looked away in fear of Seppuku's superiority over her, “She didn't recognize me as part of your team, so she wanted an introduction. That's all.”

Seppuku was searching Chiya's eyes for a lie, but soon spun around, “Well, I was wrong. That was really fun!”

Earl sighed as they walked back into the elevator.

           

 

 

Not long after the encounter, Seppuku had raced home, this time leaving the two far behind in the Upper City. Chiya and Earl were now enjoying their time in a crime free area. They had no intention of leaving the Upper City too quickly, as this was much better than the Lower City.

“So, have you ever been up here?” asked Earl.

“Only once, when I first arrived in Mute City; and of course, for the first race of this Grand Prix.” She smiled after mentioning the Grand Prix.

Earl was looking out toward the ocean, he was distracted by its beauty. “I wish we could operate up here instead of down there, but Seppuku insists on laying low.”

Chiya broke her smile and looked down with lowered eyelids, “Jody said I shouldn't get too attached to you guys, as it'll leave to suffering...”

“Eh, sounds like she's just trying to scare you. Seppuku's the one who should be scared.”

The woman giggled, “Didn't seem like he was very scared. If anything, it looked like he was running the show.”

Earl flailed his hand around, “Yeah, that's exactly what I was talking about! He made Jody look like a fool, and believe it or not, we _are_ on her side. Seppuku makes it sound like we're looking for a war with the Federation!” Chiya was staring at Earl with interest in every word he spoke. Earl then breathed in and looked at his happy companion, “Screw Seppuku, there's a place up here I should show you.”

She smiled and nodded, “Alright, then!”

 

 

 

The two drove up to a café called the 'Falcon House' minutes later, there were few others parked there. The two entered the café and sat down, the establishment was clearly designed for F-Zero fans, Captain Falcon fans in particular. The café had many pictures and other things pertaining to Captain Falcon. Chiya was fascinated with the classic look of the café, it was very modern, yet had the appearance of a 20th century American diner. She looked at a motivational poster of Captain Falcon smashing the _Blood Hawk,_ Blood Falcon's machine, with one burning punch.

Chiya lowered her eyelids and exhaled with a dreamy smile as she stared at the poster, “I actually was a Captain Falcon fan before I met Seppuku…”

At that moment, a man walked in from behind the counter, “Sure, Captain Falcon is one of the better role models of F-Zero, after all. And he's handsome.”

The man running the place had grabbed his attention, she agreed for certain that Captain Falcon was a handsome man. The owner had combed brown hair, a white shirt with red bow tie, and had average muscles; his name was Bart Lemming.

“Hello, Bart,” Earl greeted.

Bart placed his arm down on the table, “Earl Bendek, what are we talking about?” he asked with a grin.

“We just got back from a mission with Seppuku, he gets on your nerves quickly, though, so we needed a break.”

Bart raised an eyebrow at Chiya, “I presume this nice woman is yet another one of your-”

Earl widened his eyes faked a cough, “O- Oh! This is Chiya Flower, a new associate of his.”

Bart nodded while looking into her eyes, “It's my pleasure meeting you, Chiya.”

The television behind them pulled up a commercial for the next race, it was flashing poker cards across the screen, then showed the _Blue Falcon_ racing on the track. More cards flew toward the screen while the camera followed the _Blue Falcon_. The commercial concluded with the message: ' _Purchase tickets now : Casino Palace, Mute City'_.

Chiya had been staring at the _Blue Falcon_ driving around in the commercial. She now felt obligated to be a diehard Seppuku fan, given that she was associated with the man, but something about Captain Falcon still stuck with Chiya more.

“So, Mute City has two tracks?” asked Chiya.

Both men laughed at her in response, this left Chiya believing that she may have asked a stupid question. She was becoming a little frustrated as to why a simple question had to be answered with laughter.

Earl pat her back and smirked, “There's more than that, I think five or six are in Mute City.”

Chiya looked at him with a surprised face, “How can that be? How can this one city hold so many tracks?”

Bart raised a finger, “There's the stadium track, where the previous race was; Casino palace, the sky track, one that is just above the atmosphere; and one normal track on the ground.”

Earl chuckled, “All of which Captain Falcon usually wins.”

“It's true. Captain Falcon is a man of talent, he even has time to hunt the unlawful of the universe as a bounty hunter.”

Chiya widened her eyes. _Captain Falcon's a Bounty Hunter? So he's somewhat of a violent man, then..._

 

 

           

The three continued talking, Chiya and Earl eventually requested drinks. They were in no rush to get home and certainly not anxious. A discussion on Captain Falcon seemed to be what was going around the room. Every other customer had left, leaving only the three in the building.

Bart continued on with a conversation, “The only time Falcon failed to complete a Grand Prix was when the Great Accident occurred that fateful race, but in all fairness, he wasn't the only one to crash and burn that race.”

Earl opened his mouth to respond, but halted as Bart grunted. A unique vehicle had approached the café. Earl and Chiya looked back and found a pink F-Zero machine now parked in front of the window. Its body was fat and the rear fins had flame decals.

“Fire Stingray…” Bart muttered with narrowed eyes.

The entrance swung open and a somewhat obese man came walking in silently. He wore oval sunglasses, jeans, a ripped brown jacket, and a green replica Japanese pilot helmet from the days of Imperial Japan. The helmet had a Japanese war flag attached to the top. This was without a doubt Samurai Goroh, an F-Zero legend—and a wanted criminal.

Chiya was frightened by Goroh's casual expression, he walked in and sat next to Chiya. The woman jolted up straight and grit her teeth. She looked at Goroh with great hesitance, then came across the disturbing sight of his eye. He was looking down at her.

She almost yelped and looked down at his arm instead, she spotted a tattoo on his bulking arm.

“O- Oh, I- I like your tattoo..!” she panicked. She only now just realized that the tattoo was of a topless Asian woman holding a katana over her lap. Her breasts were very large. “Um, she's a pretty woman...”

Bart and Goroh looked at each other. “Samurai Goroh, of the Fire Stingray...” Bart welcomed in a hostile tone.

Goroh remained still, choosing not to respond to the welcoming. Earl had a nervous look, mostly because Chiya was the one sitting beside the criminal. Bart cleaned the counter in front of Goroh, but didn't take his eyes off the large man. Goroh had killed the happy environment with his presence.

“You're pretty brave showing yourself in public like this, considering you _are_ a highly wanted criminal,” Bart said accusingly.

Goroh grinned at the comment, “Give me your smallest glass, I aint staying here long.”

Bart continued staring at him in discontent, but soon gave him a small cup of coffee. Samurai Goroh was renowned for his space pirate gang, the 'Goroh Clan'. These pirates were not territorial, they traveled through space hijacking and looting random ships they encounter. This pirate leader was on the Federation's list of most wanted, making it very unusual for him to stop by a public place.

Chiya continued to tremble and gave Goroh many glances. She just wanted to leave at this point.

Sensing the negativity, Goroh drank his coffee in one gulp and got up. “I can tell when I'm not wanted.”

And so, the brief event passed, and Goroh walked out the door. This was Bart's quickest left customer. Within second the _Fire Stingray_ drove away. Despite the strangeness of this event, Bart had one thing on his mind.

“He didn't pay me for the coffee...” he muttered with crossed arms.

Earl stood up, “Well, we better get going, Seppuku doesn't even know we're still up here.”

Bart nodded and departed back into the kitchen. Chiya followed Earl back to his car, and thus they made their descent back into the dark world known as the Lower City.

 

 

 

Chiya and Earl entered the base again and parted ways. Chiya planned on heading straight for her room, but first looked over at the display cases in the lobby. She approached them, now with a possible understanding of where these medals were acquired from. They were in all likeliness Galactic Federation medals awarded to Seppuku.

The Mysterian placed a hand over the glass while gazing down at the awards. The medals appeared to be very prestigious, leaving Chiya to contemplate whether or not she misunderstood how valuable Seppuku was to the Federation before he was fired.

“I stand with what I said to Jody.”

Chiya gasped and spun around, Seppuku stood behind her. The girl bit her lip in fear, but tried to appear unshaken, “What do you mean?”

“I'm glad I was fired, that team doesn't understand my method of work, and most importantly, my philosophy on life. It may be dark, but it gets the job done faster and more efficiently than her method. Their way is inferior to mine.”

Chiya didn't agree with him, but respected his opinion, “So these medals are all from the Federation?”

“Yes, I know they all used to admire my services in the Federation; Jody was having a difficult time lecturing me today, she's obviously still distressed about my leave. With super villains like Black Shadow and Blood Falcon on the run, we just don't have time for mercy.”

Chiya crossed her arms, “But you spared one of the men who captured me that fateful night. You could have chased him, but you didn't.”

Seppuku sighed and looked up at the ceiling, “He got away, he's the one who gets a second chance to mold his life for the better. But if not, I'll kill him yet.” Chiya swallowed and nodded. “Not every criminal deserves to die, some can be saved. Men like Black Shadow, Blood Falcon, and Michael Chain all strive for the same goal, to terrorize. _They_ cannot be fixed, so they must be removed from existence.”

Chiya turned and pointed at the Blood Falcon helmet, “Where did you get that?”

Seppuku put his hand on the glass and looked down at the blue helmet. He remained silent while staring at it, then walked away.

“Never you mind that, it's just a broken helmet...”


	9. Lap 9

==Lap 10=

 

A few days went by with little to no gang violence. The day of the next race was here at last and would be taking place in Casino Palace. Earl had yet to begin installing the parts into Chiya's machine, as all priority was given to the _Red Dove_ to ensure that it's ready for optimal performance.

Chiya and Earl were hanging out in the garage, this was now considered a typical beginning to the day. Chiya had been helping Earl the past two days with getting the _Red Dove_ ready. Earl was now considered Chiya's best friend and she even came to him often times to have casual conversations. Seppuku had entered an unusual state ever since his meeting with Jody where he isolates more than usual and even skips out on 'hunting'. He always locked his office door, a clear indication that he wanted nothing to do with his two associates.

After a hard afternoon of work, Chiya wiped her forehead with a rag and stepped back from the F-Zero machine. “I think that's the best we can do for the dents,” she said with a content attitude.

Earl came by and looked at the body from her perspective, they had gotten the dents from previous action out. The F-Zero machine took damage from both the _Blood Hawk_ and _Wild Boar,_ Seppuku would see much of the same today _._

The mechanic was content with their work, but still went on to say, “Alright, let's keep working.”

“What is there left to work on? Looks fine to me.”

Earl grinned, “Nothing, it's perfect. But if I stop working on the Red Dove, Seppuku will lecture me for being lazy. It doesn't matter how well it looks.”

Seppuku kicked the garage door open without warning, leaving Chiya shaking with wide eyes. The Man of Darkness proceeded toward the two without expression, then proceeded to inspect the _Red Dove._ Earl was preparing for a review, and Seppuku had a history for being the strictest of critics.

Following much silence, the man nodded, “Perfection.”

Earl was beyond surprised by the compliment, “Wh- What? Uh, yeah, alright... thanks!”

Both associates were sent back in shock as Seppuku then made an abnormally skilled jump onto the roof of his machine. There he stood with his lengthy rifle down like a cane. 

“Alright, listen up, girls!” Both Chiya and Earl came together with almost obedient faces. “This race is going to be much more intense, we've got Chain on the track and he's pissed beyond comprehension. Along with this, there's Blood Falcon—he's a douche. Both racers are natural enemies of our cause, so I'll need both your help.”

Chiya puckered her lips upon hearing this, “Wait, I get to come!?”

            Seppuku nodded, “Don't get too excited, I'm putting both of you on a case study. I demand a report from both of you on the tactics that the Wild Boar and Blood Hawk use. Don't concern yourselves with my other opponents.”

Chiya narrowed her eyes, “Who are your opponents, exactly?” she asked with a suspicious gaze.

“Anyone who poses a threat to me.” He got inside the machine and turned on the engine, then turned his head and pointed at Chiya, “Don't be late.”

Seppuku drove out of the garage and hit the streets. Chiya removed her beanie hat to rub her sweating forehead. Moments later she put her hat back on and walked to Earl's car.

“This sounds like it could get hairy. Should I bring my gun?”

“You should leave it in the car, the F-Zero committee will just confiscate it.”

Following a nod, Chiya tossed her handgun in the back seat and sat in the car. Earl looked at the car's clock and shrugged, they were leaving a bit early.

“Here's hoping for a victory…” Earl said with a grin.

           

 

 

The two were later driving to the track known as Casino Palace. The theme of the track was, as to be expected, a casino. The track used flashing lights and decorations to leave the drivers disoriented. This track was found not in the Upper City nor the Lower City; but rather, the 'Gambling Area'. This was a gambler's paradise, a section of Mute City styled after Las Vegas.

Chiya had remained silent most of the trip and kept her head down. This was concerning her new friend, who much preferred seeing her happy on a daily basis.

Earl glanced at Chiya with a concerned look, “Something up? You've been very quiet today.”

Chiya looked up and forced a smile, “No, I'm fine! It's just that Seppuku's been a real mood killer and it's kind of distressing me...”

Earl nodded with a grin, “Sometimes I think he's in love with Jody Summer. I'm sure that's who he's angry at, right now.”

Chiya raised an eyebrow, “I was beginning to think he didn't know love.”

“He used to talk about her all the time. He's spoken tales of when he was in the Federation, but most of his stories were centered around Jody's leadership, always in a negative way. He doesn't like Jody, therefore, I doubt love plays a role in this.”

Chiya looked out the window and rested her head against the seat. Despite her current mood, Chiya was ecstatic to see her second F-Zero race. Seppuku wanted her present to study his two rivals, but he may have also wanted her to see how F-Zero works up close, since she may very well become a racer one day.

“He'll get over it, I promise you that much,” Earl concluded.

 

 

 

About half an hour later, they arrived at a huge dome stadium. The windows were emerald green and the roof painted gold. The parking lots were filled with cars. Chiya and Earl walked through the entrance and were suddenly surrounded with concession stands. Many concession stands were revolved only around specific racers, such as: Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Pico, Dr. Stewart, and even Blood Falcon. There were no Seppuku stands, however.

The two friends walked through an immense crowd of people while on their way to the track. Off the corner of Chiya's eyes was a Captain Falcon beanie hat for sale, it was blue with a golden eagle stitched on top. The Mysterian smiled and began moving toward the stand while searched her pocket for money. Earl quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

“Seppuku would kill you if you wore that...” he explained.

           

 

 

Not much later, the two made it to a large metal booth. This was a private booth preserved only for those invited by that racer. This was Lieutenant Seppuku's private booth. The booth had quality chairs, a TV displaying the race, a couch, and kitchen. Chiya was leaping around the booth in joy and continued going on about how amazing every single thing was. Earl was finding great humor in her excitement.

Chiya ran up to Earl, “Look at this! The booth has a cooling unit in case it gets hot!”

“Yep, it's great.”

The Mysterian opened up a mini fridge and looked inside, then puckered her lips, “Food!”

 

 

 

Several minutes passed by and the time for action had come. All racers were to drive up to the starting line for introductions.

The track announcer tapped his microphone, “The F-Zero committee would like to thank all of those here for the second race of the annual Grand Prix. At this time we will introduce the racers.”

Chiya dropped an expensive sandwich and ran up to the front of the booth, her mouth was left open with excitement. The booth was designed like a machine gun bunker, so she could look out at the track from an opening. Seppuku's booth was situated near the starting line, which gave Chiya the benefit of seeing the racers come up to the starting line in person.

“Taking first the previous race, the bounty hunter and living legend of F-Zero, Captain Falcon!”

The _Blue Falcon_ raced to the starting line. Thousands, if not millions, of people cheered the legend on as he waved to the crowd.

Chiya exhaled with great passion and blinked with a lovestruck smile, “Isn't he dreamy, Earl?”

The mechanic rolled his eyes, “I _guess_...” He looked away from Chiya for a moment and smirked, “He's not, like, mechanic dreamy; but sure...”

“The man born in a lab, set out to kill his clone brother, Blood Falcon!”

The _Blood Hawk_ drove up beside the _Blue Falcon_. He leapt out on top of his F-Zero machine and proceeded to bang his head with a stuck out tongue. Most fans were booing him, except for the small amount of people who were clapping—the Blood Falcon fan base.

“Chief commander and spokeswoman of the Galactic Federation, and stunning to say the least, Jody Summer!”

The _White Cat_ drove up next to the _Blood Hawk_. Jody and Captain Falcon exchanged nods, she then opened her cockpit and saluted the crowd.

“The Man of Mystery, laying low and keeping his enemies close, Lieutenant Seppuku!”

The _Red Dove_ drove up to the _White Cat_ , but Seppuku did not acknowledge the crowd. Not much reception was given by the fans, aside from a loud bunch of fans booing in Michael Chain's booth, directly across from Earl and Chiya.

Chiya widened her eyes and pointed toward the adjacent booth, “It's Michael Chain's goons!”

Earl didn't regard these men, but he did he groan at the _Red Dove_ , “What a horrible group…”

“What's wrong?”

His expression became very serious after swishing a hand toward the four racers on the track, “You got both Falcons, Jody Summer, and Seppuku. A recipe for disaster! Let's pray they don't get into a pre-race conversation…”

The announcer continued introducing each racer, meanwhile, Seppuku got out of his machine. Captain Falcon got out after seeing Seppuku leave his machine, and this caused both Jody and Blood Falcon to get out as well. The four walked toward each other and stood in separate corners. Seppuku initiated a chain reaction by getting out of his machine.

Earl slapped his cheek, “Dammit, Seppuku! Well, here we go…”

Captain Falcon grinned and saluted Seppuku, “May the best man win, Lieutenant.”

Seppuku was about to respond, but was interrupted by an approaching Jody Summer, “Save your breath, Captain. Getting a compliment from him is as rare as seeing-”

Blood Falcon ran up to the three laughing, “Falcon, Falcon! I look forward to crushing you in my machine!”

Captain Falcon gave him a grim look, “I'll let you kill me. But you have to catch me first!” he spoke with a grin.

Seppuku chuckled, “You two are what make F-Zero what it is. Random rivalry leading to death,” he ceased chuckling and grinned, “It's why I _love_ the sport. Idiots killing each other on the track because of unneeded rivalry...”

“You have more rivals than anyone here, Seppuku,” Jody countered.

Seppuku glanced at Jody with gritted teeth, when suddenly loud footsteps could be heard approaching the four. For whatever the reason, Michael Chain had made an early debut—completely ignoring the fact that he was supposed to be introduced last.

Chain shoved Jody onto the ground and grabbed Seppuku by the neck, lifted him into the air, then shook him around like a doll. “Seppuku! I wanted to thank you for damaging Red Star! It saved me a lot of time, but it's a shame you're still alive!”

The lieutenant remained calm, despite being throttled, “You need to work out more, I could easily break out of your grasp if I wanted to...”

Chain shook in anger before throwing the man aside, Captain Falcon grabbed Chain by the arm, “Calm down.”

Seppuku stood back up and brushed his coat, “I didn't need your pity help, Falcon.”

           

 

 

A while later all racers were present at the starting line, “At this time, all racers may start their engines!”

All of the F-Zero machines began to power on, Seppuku looked to his side at Jody, who's machine was next to his. He nodded and tilted his hat as a declaration of challenge.

Three. Two. One. Go!

Each racer took off and the fans exploded with cheers. Chiya was bouncing up and down excitedly, the race was on and she now had true incentive to root for Seppuku.

The _Blue Falcon_ led the pack of racers, but both Blood Falcon and Seppuku were close on him. The _Crazy Bear_ was gaining on Seppuku, though did not appear to have any hostile intentions of ramming into him. Dr. Clash was the driver of the _Crazy Bear_ , an obese man with gray hair and a yellow skin suit. He was the top engineer of the Galactic Federation. The _Blood Hawk_ drove up to the _Blue Falcon_ 's side and tried a side attack, Captain Falcon dodged this by hitting the brakes. Blood Falcon was now in 1st with Seppuku behind him in 2nd.

“Why didn't Seppuku hit Captain Falcon if he hates him so much?” asked Chiya.

“Seppuku isn't that much of a fool. If he took out Captain Falcon, how much respect would he lose from F-Zero fans? There are millions, maybe billions, of Falcon fans. They would all hate Seppuku if he took him out, and Seppuku's already bad reputation would perish.”

“Blood Falcon attacks Captain Falcon,” she countered.

“Well no one likes Blood Falcon, anyhow.”

The _Blue Falcon_ passed the _Crazy Bear_ and was behind the _Red Dove_. Seppuku decided to perform unneeded aggression by hitting the brakes just as the _Blue Falcon_ got behind him, this forced Falcon to an immediate stop. The fans all booed the Man of Darkness for this, both Seppuku and Captain Falcon were sent back a couple positions now and allowed for racers such as Samurai Goroh and Michael Chain to pass. Blood Falcon was still having no issue keeping up in 1st place, Jody was the only one close enough to try and stop him.

Michael Chain slowed down to combat Seppuku, who surprised the gangster with a sudden side attack. The _Wild Boar_ was beat aside and now had a huge dent on the side. Seppuku had done severe damage to Chain's machine, the gang leader backed away from Seppuku. Most racers completed their first lap and thus unlocked their boosters.

Seppuku boosted forward, but was still far behind the other racers. Captain Falcon was battling Zoda, a racer many found to be annoying. Seppuku growled at the _Wild Boar_ , and in what could be seen as a controversial move, used the majority of his energy tank to boost toward Chain, who had boosted past Seppuku after completing a lap. If the _Red Dove_ 's energy level were to deplete, the machine would turn off and 'retire' from the race.

“What's he doing?” asked Chiya, confused by his decision to exert so much energy boosting.

Earl grinned, “Finishing business. Didn't expect any less from the man…”

Chain was beginning to panic, he had to reach a restoration pad and drive over it in order to restore his energy tank. But as it would appear, Seppuku could finish him off with a single strike. Chain didn't have enough energy left to withstand another attack.

Likewise, Seppuku had very little energy left to shed, so he would need to be careful. A simple strike against the _Red Dove_ could retire him from the race, incentive to stay away from Chain; but Seppuku had his jingo on and was seeking destruction.

In a very surprising moment, Captain Falcon drove into Seppuku's rear and bumped him forward. This was helping Seppuku gain fast ground on Chain.

Earl rubbed his chin in awe, “Son of a gun...”

Chiya looked at Earl with wide eyes, then back at the screen. Michael Chain was considered a big rival because of the gang war he partook in, ensuring that he couldn't win the one billion credits in prize money was crucial.

Seppuku came neck and neck with the _Wild Boar_ and soon pinned him close to the wall to prevent an attack, Chain's only option was to make a complete stop. This decision was made too late, however, as Seppuku rammed him into the safety rail and continued dragging him along the track. This left a trail of sparks for nearly a mile. After sucking all the energy away from Chain's machine, Seppuku released him and drove through a restoration pad. He was now restoring his energy to full and soon boosted forward again. Chain pounded on his machine in a desperate attempt to start it back up, but it was no use. It was a consecutive retirement.

The fans cheered Chain's second retirement,  this almost shot down any chance he had of winning the Grand Prix. Chiya and Earl hugged with great optimism while cheering with the rest. Chiya looked forward and pointed toward Chain's private booth with an excited smile.

“Look!”

Chain's gangsters were all expressing their rage by lifting dumbbells and shouting at what had just happened.

Captain Falcon drove beside Seppuku and saluted him, but Seppuku, yet again, disregarded this. Blood Falcon rammed into Jody and sent her spinning, then laughed with imperialistic joy. Seppuku drove up beside Blood Falcon by surprise and side attacked him. Everyone cheered once more for Seppuku, but unfortunately, his attack did little to Blood Falcon besides slowly him down. Blood Falcon was in 3rd place now.

“Seppuku's getting quite some attention, this might help his fan base,” Earl spoke with optimism.

The final lap had arrived. Blood Falcon was trying to catch up with Seppuku with a passionate desire for challenge. The two engaged in combat with a mutual ambition to kill the other, both were matched in what appeared to be anyone's fight.

Jody drove up to Blood Falcon's other side, both Jody and Seppuku had him cornered. Blood Falcon could be destroyed within an instant if he didn't slow down. Blood Falcon came to a quick stop and cussed aloud. This put Jody and Seppuku together with Goroh gaining on both racers. Jody and Seppuku were gazing at each other from their cockpits. Both looked like bitter rivals, yet, they chose not to fight each other.

With Jody distracted, Goroh snuck up from the left and side attacked her. She was sent flying into the air. Her machine sparked and smoked across the air as she propelled far ahead of everyone. Seppuku could see the _White Cat_ start on fire as he challenge Goroh to a fight.

Seppuku looked at the _Fire Stingray_ angrily, but quirked his mouth and growled toward his waist. After quick thinking, he sighed and made a less predictable move. He came to a stop near the _White Cat_ , then opened his cockpit to get out onto the track. The crowd was out of control, Seppuku was walking on a track with thirty-some racers going over 1,000 km/h.

“Seppuku's out of his mind!” Earl panicked.

Chiya was left amazed by this bravery; to save someone he had no care for at all, not to mention, he was taking a huge risk walking onto an active track. This was most inspiring to Chiya.

Seppuku ripped open the _White Cat'_ s cockpit window with abnormal strength and grabbed Jody. He carried her back to the _Red Dove_ as fast as he could, though she was somewhat rejecting this with growls and grunts. By the time they got in, he was already in last place. Seppuku boosted up toward the rest of the F-Zero machines, but had already cast his fate.

Blood Falcon also failed to catch up, but was still ranked in 6th. Captain Falcon was ranked in 8th. Seppuku drove past a few F-Zero machines and made it to 20th. But it was too late, Samurai Goroh finished in 1st, followed by Pico, Dr. Clash, and Mrs. Arrow.

Chiya was smiling with her eyes watering at what Seppuku had done, this was a true heroic act. She wasn't disappointed in the fact that he placed so low.

The _Red Dove_ eventually exited the track. All in all, Seppuku now had an overall rank of 12th in the overall standings.

 

 

 

The two friends remained in the booth talking. Seppuku stormed into the booth from behind and complained, “Awful race, just terrible! But at least Michael Chain has been dealt with.”

Chiya launched herself toward Seppuku and wrapped around him with her lips tucked inside her mouth, “That's not true, it was a good race! Everyone saw what you did.”

Seppuku grunted, then pushed her off of him, “Shut up, child! Get back to base now, w- we have serious matters to discuss!” he yelled with a finger going toward the exit.

Earl and Chiya acknowledged the order and walked away. Seppuku watched the two leave with his fists clenched, then turned around to face the track. The fire on the _White Cat_ was being put out, and the _Wild Boar_ being pulled away. Michael Chain was flailing his arms around in a loud conversation with his gang, they were walking with the broken F-Zero machine. While Seppuku watched the Bloody Chain walk, a figure approached Seppuku from behind; it was Jody Summer.

She stood still looking at him, and Seppuku turned with nothing to say. She had no expression and was just staring at him. Seppuku soon tipped his fedora, at least acknowledging her presence.

“Thank you,” she spoke fast.

Seppuku got an angered look, “Wh- Whatever! I still need you around is all,” he said before pushing her aside.

The man stormed out his booth in rage. Jody watched him walk away and got a grin, “You're the world's oldest child, Seppuku...” she muttered aloud.

           

           

Much later in the day, back at the base, Seppuku sat in his office alone reading news articles on the race. Most of them were about how he rescued Jody and risked his life in place of winning the race. Seppuku soon looked up and raised an eyebrow. Chiya now stood in front of him with a small smile.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“You're a hero, Seppuku,” Chiya said while smiling.

Seppuku remained silent and calm, then slammed his arm down on the desk, “I'm no hero! Never call me that!”

The Mysterian was beyond surprised, “How can you think that? Don't you want to be a hero?”

“All I did was save someone who didn't deserve death. No more, no less. I did the same thing for you.” He continued staring at his computer screen, “I expect someone like you to do the same, if you are ever in a similar predicament.”

Chiya rolled her eyes and departed, leaving Seppuku to gaze at the same headline for the online article, ' _Seppuku's Heroic Act'_. For whatever the reason, Seppuku didn't want publicity. He had done many things in this race that would boost his ratings. Unknowingly to everyone else, fame was the last thing Seppuku desired. A billion credits, perhaps; but did not desire fame—for he feared publicity could destroy him.


	10. Lap 10

==Lap 11=

 

 

Many days had now gone by for Chiya Flower since first arriving at Seppuku's base. Over the many days, she made a best friend, got a job, a new home, the start of an F-Zero machine, saw two races, and even met Jody Summer—a demon according to Mysteria.

Needless to say, not every step of Chiya's early adventure was easy; for along with the good things, there were bad things. Most of the bad things to have occurred to date were because of Seppuku's risky and careless persona. Under his wing, she had been captured by Red Star twice and witnessed the killing of several men; the unfortunate truth that she knew to be true was that more would come. More life improvements, but also more dangerous situations.

Now, the young Mysterian slept soundly in her new bed. The woman was so traumatized by her near violation that she slept in every article of clothing except her boots. Nevertheless, Chiya slept with a calm look and clear mind, her mother's blanket covering her whole body with love and memories. One needn't doubt that Chiya had a rough start in Seppuku's team, she deserved to sleep happy.

Earl passed Chiya's bedroom, glanced at her door, but continued moving toward Seppuku's office. It was well past midnight and neither Earl nor Seppuku were asleep; unlike Chiya, who was lost in dreamland. The mechanic twirled two fingers behind his back while walking, then grabbed onto the door.

The sheer sound of the doorknob turning forced Seppuku's head up, Earl entered the office and waved to his boss. Seppuku ceased what he was doing and sat back in his chair with a grin.

“Ah, Bendek. Still up?”

Earl closed the door behind him and nodded, “I got the Red Dove all fixed up.”

“Good boy. That was fast.”

This was all Earl wanted to tell Seppuku, yet, he approached the desk. Aside from work, there was a relationship between Earl and Seppuku that Chiya didn't know about. She was under the presumption, off of what she has seen and heard, that Earl is nothing more than a mechanic for the man; but the two had more than a partnership.

Seppuku reached down under his desk and tossed a can of beer up into the air, caught it, then held it out, “Beer?”

The mechanic's face was lacking interest, “A beer? Hell, no.” Seppuku grunted and retracted his arm, but then found Earl's grin again. “Two beers, on the other hand...”

“Ah, ha—a!”

Earl held his hand up and caught a rifled can, cracked it open, then took a sip. Seppuku partook in drinking as well. The mechanic drank much of his beer, but shook his hand negatively.

“Scratch that, I shouldn't drink more than one since I'm going to bed.”

The two men proceeded to laze around the office drinking beer while Chiya slept. This was one of the few scenarios where Seppuku was open to fooling around and kicking back; beer was his weakness. Both men drank, then stopped at the same time.

“So, Bendek...” Earl raised an eyebrow. “What do you think of the new girl, Chiya?”

“What do I think of her?” Seppuku nodded. Earl raised both his brows and rubbed his bottom lip against the aluminum can. “Well, she's kind of a troubled person, definitely easy to startle, and she whines a lot about stuff.”

Seppuku laughed, “You're damn right she whines a lot.”

Earl revealed a soft smile, “But she's really cute, nice, curious, and has some great hobbies.” He quirked his mouth back with slight joy. “A woman who likes engineering? I'm not saying it's a foreign concept, just a little bit rare.”

“You think Flower's cute?”

The younger man widened his eyes and almost blushed on the spot, “W- Well, she is. Don't you think so?”

“Her accent is 'bloody' annoying...”

“I think she has an adorable accent.”

Seppuku flailed both his arms up with a smug look, “Well, gee! You seem to find her great. Tell me, how is she in bed?”

Earl gasped loudly and dipped his head down, “I- I hope you're joking, man...”

“You haven't pollinated her?”

“Hold on!” Earl dropped his face down while chuckling, “Firstly, there's nothing going on between her and I. I think she's cute and awesome, but you know me, I'm not ready to get locked down. Secondly, I _do_ live by a code of honor; I won't partake in any of those activities with a woman until I'm ready to marry.”

Seppuku shrugged, “I don't get the whole love concept. She obviously has taken an interest in you, why not go take advantage of that?”

Now Earl was becoming pestered, “I'm done having this conversation. Chiya's a fine woman with a great dream. She doesn't want anyone going under her shorts, she wants an F-Zero machine.”

The lieutenant took another swig of his beer and nodded, “Fine, fine. But answer me this...” He looked Earl deep in the eyes with a serious face, “What do you think her story is?”

“Her story?”

Seppuku nodded, “A Mysterian on Earth...”

Earl responded to this on a positive note, “I don't know. She probably just got away from her planet.”

The Man of Darkness put on his usual displeased look and struck a fist down, “Oh, don't give me that crap. You _know_ there's more to it than that.” Earl returned a somewhat hostile, yet intrigued, look. “We're not talking about a girl who just jumped the border to freedom, we're talking about an isolated planet light years away from here.”

“I guess that is a bit ' _Mysterias'_...” Earl searched for a laugh, but was given nothing. “Uh, I guess that is strange...”

“Come on, Bendek. Mysteria is a militaristic empire, there's no way Flower got off that planet any simple way. There's something big she's not telling us...”

Earl laughed and drank from his can, “What? No, come on. Chiya's just here by circumstance, I assure you.”

“Open your eyes, that seemingly sweet and cuddly Mysterian has something to hide... No mother, no father, no money; there was a point in her life where she took the risk and got around the Mysterian military to get off that planet. I'm just curious why and how she did...”

Despite everything Seppuku told him, Earl was in clear denial. He swished his hand at the tall man and chuckled. “She said she came for university here in Mute City. She's an opportunist who found her way off the planet. End of story.”

“But why would a Mysterian go to the core metropolis of the Federation?”

This single point did, indeed, put a chill down Earl's back. Now he stopped to think back to his encounters with Chiya, but all he could remember is a happy person. The fact that a Mysterian would desire to live on a Federation planet in the first place was strange, considering the brainwashing that occurred. Chiya had demonstrated her brainwashed thinking, so Earl knew it to be true that she wasn't a special case that saw through her government's teachings. Like it or not, there _was_ a reason Chiya now finds herself on Earth.

Earl crushed his can and tossed it in the recycling bin, then turned toward the door. The question was raised behind Chiya's back as to why and how she came to Earth, Earl was especially curious to know if there was something the woman was hiding. Time would tell, no doubt.

 

 

 

 

The following afternoon, Chiya walked out of her room and went toward the garage. Many days had gone by since she brought back the F-Zero components. Every day she awoke and would run to the garage in hopes of finding that Earl finished her machine. She opened the garage door with excitement and crossed her fingers, then looked around for Earl. The garage was darker than usual and the man nowhere to be seen. Chiya glanced at the boxes that the F-Zero parts were in and frowned, both parts remain untouched. Yet again, she sighed in disappointment; she would have to wait another day.

“He isn't here,” Seppuku's voice rifled.

Chiya panicked and spun around, Seppuku stood behind her, “You have a bad habit of creeping up on people...” she commented with a smile.

Seppuku turned around and began walking away, “He claimed that I was overworking him, so he left for a drink at the Falcon House, of all places...”

He left the garage with the plan of isolating himself in the office, thus, he left Chiya alone. The woman looked around the garage wondering if there was anything pertaining to the 'Purring Kitten' that she could work on. Unfortunately, she was no more than a wiz on engines; the Mysterian lacked the confidence to try working on anything else.

“I guess that means I'm free as well…”

She brought two fingers up to her mouth and looked up toward the ceiling. This was the first time Chiya had the opportunity to do whatever she wanted by herself. _But what is there to do in the Lower City..?_ Though it was a long trip, it seemed that going to the Upper City was a possibility. Chiya still possessed most of the money looted from Red Star, which gave her several opportunities to go shopping. In mere seconds she was consumed by ideas of what to spend her money on. Clothing, food, supplies, perhaps a gift for her two friends.

Going shopping had become the dominating plan for her day, and so she sprinted into the lobby, running right past Seppuku in the process. Both curious and suspicious, the Man of Darkness stomped his foot down on the ground, this brought Chiya to a halt. Her eyes quivered in fear as she turned toward him.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” he asked with escalating suspicion.

Chiya bit down on her lip and looked away while still facing him, “We—ell, I was thinking I could go to the Upper City and do some stuff…”

Seppuku rubbed his chin, contemplating whether to trust what the young woman said, “I guess that's fine. If you get into trouble, _again_ ; I won't be there to save you. God knows Bendek won't.”

 _What is he implying about Earl..?_ Seppuku continued walking, skipping any response. Chiya continued walking as well, but noticed Seppuku glancing at her from behind. He slowed down while staring at her, then stopped before sighing.

“Here,” Chiya was thrown the key to the _Red Dove_ , she managed to catch the key and gasped at it. She looked up at him in confusion, at a loss for what he expected her to do with his F-Zero machine. “It would take you forever to get up there, plus it's dangerous. Also, you could use some more practice driving one of these anyways. But bang her up and I'll burn your room down!”

Chiya's eyes widened at the threat, “B- But where would I sleep?”

“Either on the floor or with Bendek.”

Driving an F-Zero machine in general was a frightening though, the thought of damaging it and losing her bedroom was even more mind blowing. Nevertheless, she took up the offer, “Yes, sir.”

           

           

 

Five minutes later, Chiya drove along the Lower City at a casual and legal speed. This was her first time driving the _Red Dove_ all on her own. She had yet to experience what driving an F-Zero machine at its fullest speed felt like, but she was quickly learning how to use one for everyday life. Of course, driving a formula racing machine in public was not fine practice; yet, every F-Zero racer did it.

She looked to the sides of the street, poor people cowered in fear of her. Chiya assumed they were traumatized since the gangs roamed the streets. The gang war was not going well for either side. The Lower City was under stricter control by the Bloody Chain at the moment, as Chiya and Earl had critically severed Red Star's military.

Chiya drove with little to no problems and soon reached the upward slope leading to the Upper City. Each time entering the Upper City there was a feeling of escape, perhaps from a life of darkness. The Upper City was much more maintained, futuristic, and far safer.

Upon driving through the beginning of the Upper City, she glanced over at the Falcon House, which was to her right. Sure enough, she could see Earl's car there. Chiya felt like parking there to surprise her friend, but resisted the heavy urge. _I should let him do his own things today…_ Chiya didn't want to look like some stalker that had to be with Earl every moment of her life, so she continued on with her original plan to go shopping.

She continued driving aimlessly around Mute City, looking for places she could shop at. The one thing always in sight was the Galactic Federation HQ. It was so tall that it could be seen in the Lower City. Eventually, a mall was spotted a distance away from the café and decided to go shopping there.

The _Red Dove_ was parked near the entrance beside many ordinary cars. She walked into the mall, and immediately, gasped at the variety of things within view. Even the very first thing she saw, a plunger, was alluring to her eye. Chiya hadn't been shopping for many years. _Let's just shop for things Earl and Seppuku might like…_ This was the least she could do, considering what both men had been giving her so far. Chiya was someone very thankful for friends and family, and thus would be content spending money on the two.

In a weapons section of the mall she found weapon holsters for sale. She studied each holster with much consideration. Even though Seppuku chose to dawn a rifle, she was under the presumption that he could use a pistol holster. Just as she began reaching out for a holster, another one had caught her eye. Both eyes widened, there was a leather holster with a sunflower sewn onto it.

Chiya narrowed her eyes in a sly way while gazing at the girlish holster, “...Seppuku might want this…” she said before picking it off the rack.

In another area, she found a black and pink bag for holding general purpose items, “I bet Earl might like this…”

And in yet another section, she glanced at a pink pair of panties with a black cat sewn onto the front, “This might fit on Seppuku…”

Lastly, she walked through a medical isle and looked up at the top shelf. Looking left and right, she grabbed a specific box and placed it in her cart. “Thank God...” she muttered almost in humility.

           

 

 

After a very long period of buying girly _gifts_ , she checked out and brought the cargo to the _Red Dove_. Looking around for an area to put her things, and while there was indeed one backseat, she realized something.

“There's hardly any room to put this stuff!” she complained.

The end result had Chiya pushing everything under the seat, she now understood that an F-Zero machine was not ideal for carrying cargo. She sat down once more and hung a vehicle ornament above the rearview mirror; it was of a happy pink bunny.

Chiya held her hands together with a smile, “Perfect!”

 

 

 

Chiya was later driving around town while drinking a beverage. Like a smart F-Zero pilot, though, she only drank when safe. She had now blown through a large quantity of her money and exceeded what little storage capacity the _Red Dove_ had.

She drove by the Falcon House and didn't see Earl's car. Chiya drove into the café's parking lot and left the _Red Dove_ to enter the café. She wanted to talk more about the F-Zero race she had just witnessed. The Mysterian sat in the same seat as last time, the establishment was empty.

“Ms. Flower, how do you do?” Bart greeted.

“Hi, I'm just hanging around the Upper City.”

Bart nodded and placed a cup down before her, “Did you get to see this race as well?”

Chiya affirmed the question with a smile, “Sure did! It was interesting, except both Seppuku and Captain Falcon were somewhat far from first place.”

“Racers can get a little too overwhelmed. Falcon was trapped behind several other racers, Seppuku had that race within his grasp, but chose honor over victory.”

Chiya held her hand over her mouth while thinking about Seppuku's decision to go for Jody, “Why do you think he did that?”

Bart filled her cup and shrugged, “Seppuku works in mysterious and illogical ways. What I think he forgets is that the true man isn't afraid to accept defeat.”

Chiya was trying to understand what he was saying, but couldn't form an opinion on Seppuku since he would barely talk about his intentions.

“I don't know, that seemed like a heroic act, but he's just so dark. I wish I knew more about him…”

Bart stared at her for a few moments before shutting his eyes, “The truth is, no one knows a thing about Seppuku. The man has no birth certificate, his age is unknown, and the whereabouts of his parents are void from the records.”

“But how can that be?” She shook her head at Bart, “How do you know this?”

“I stay up to date on things pertaining to F-Zero. It's part of my job to have this kind of information ready for customers.”

Chiya remained silent for nearly a minute, lost thinking about Lieutenant Seppuku. Soon, she looked up with a smile, “Was Earl talking about me?”

“Sure was, and I gotta say...” The man leaned over the counter with a smirk, “He's a charming man who has an unlimited amount of compliments for young ladies. You, by far, received some of the best compliments I've ever heard from him.”

This got the girl excited, “He was complimenting me? Like, what?” She then lowered her eyebrows, “...was he comparing me to a farm, again?”

Bart lowered his eyelids with an almost cute smirk, “Since I respect his privacy, I'm keeping that confidential.” Chiya put on a slight frown. “However, I'll tell you this much. He thinks you're one beautiful woman.”

The Mysterian nearly choked on her breath, unable to block her cheeks from becoming rosy. “O- Oh, jeez, I'm not that beautiful...” She rolled her eyes up and beamed, “He really thinks I'm beautiful?”

           

 

 

Chiya later made her way into the Lower City once again. She was flattered by a brief conversation about Earl and how she views him, but now found herself back on another topic. _All I need to do is figure out who that is behind the visor. Who is Lieutenant Seppuku..?_

She drove by _Rough Odds_ , and as always, the streets were void of any movement. She looked at the pink bunny she hung up and smiled, pleased with her many purchases. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, she could see someone on the rooftop of a building—a muscular man. Chiya lowered her eyebrows and gulped. A Bloody Chain gangster stood watching the _Red Dove_. The woman now felt unsafe, she best leave the area as fast as possible. While Red Star was crippled, the Bloody Chain was not. An already frightened Chiya was even more startled upon spotting yet another gang member above a building; it was becoming evident to her that these men were up to trouble.

A gang member was watching the _Red Dove_ come near an intersection, then held up a mobile device, “Boss, Seppuku is just about to stop at the intersection…”

On the other end, Michael Chain chuckled, “Good, detonate the explosives as soon as he stops!”

Chiya was nearing the intersection, where she would need to stop. She was very concerned with the gang members watching her, now she spotted a third gangster on the rooftop ahead of her, this one had an assault rifle. Chiya gasped and looked back, another gangster lifted an assault rifle up as well. Before she knew it, several armed gangsters stood above buildings watching her. Without a doubt, this was a very bad time to return to the Lower City.

The woman came to the intersection, but was so distracted and scared that she forgot to acknowledge the stop sign, she drove right through the intersection. It was then that a loud explosion could be heard from behind, smoke chased after the _Red Dove_. She looked back and gasped, the intersection she passed through had now been destroyed. The intersection had been planted with bombs, but Chiya dodged them by driving through the intersection without stopping. It was at that moment the gang members proceeded to fire down upon the _Red Dove_. Bullets hit the machine but were inflicting little to no damage.

“Oh God!”

Her biggest issue had yet to be addressed; for in front of her came a gray F-Zero machine with an identical appearance to Michael Chain's _Wild Boar_ , which was heavily damaged in the last race. Inside of the gray machine was Michael Chain.

“Seppuku dodged the bombs, but I'll finish him off myself,” Chain explained to his men.

Chiya widened her eyes and gasped, she was being ambushed by Michael Chain himself. She spun around and began driving back toward the destroyed intersection. Chain grinned at the challenge and pursued her, once again mistaking her for Seppuku.

The two drove past the massive amount of smoke left in the intersection; Chain's goons were losing sight of her as she began to drive at a much faster pace. Chiya could feel a rush, considering she was, practically, racing at this point. Fast wasn't enough, though; she would need to go maximum speed if she were to lose the Bloody Chain. Chain quickly came up behind Chiya and tried ramming the back of her. Chiya may have had the basic ropes of piloting down, but she knew using the boosters would be the only way out of the situation. The problem with using boosters outside of a race was that it would use up energy, and energy could only be restored at a restoration pad, which were only found on tracks.

Chiya quickly turned around a block with Chain following her from a short distance. He was now trying to reach her side in an attempt to do a side attack. Just as he began moving up toward her, two more similar machines came to Chain's aid. The plausible repercussions of boosting outside of a race were bad, but she was feeling forced into doing so, otherwise risk getting killed. Without further contemplation, she boosted forward to distance herself from the three.

Chain grinded his teeth in rage at the site of the _Red Dove_ escaping. The main issue at hand with escaping was that if she retreated home, the Bloody Chain would know where they operate and thus have the base ransacked shortly after. This was a situation she _had_ to tackle on her own.

By now, the machines were catching up to her again. The temporary machine Chain was using did not appear to have a booster, which gave Chiya a strategic advantage, though she couldn't risk using her boosters very much. Reviving a powered off F-Zero machine outside of a race was both difficult and expensive. Chain proceeded to try boxing the _Red Dove_ in with the help of his fellow gangsters. Chiya tried drifting to the right some more but found one of his goons covering her right flank. She panicked and hit the brakes, thus sending the machine to an immediate stop.

The young Flower's heart beat in a fast motion, she had given up much faster than planned. The _Red Dove_ now sat in the center of the road. Chain and his two goons encircled the machine, she was now trapped. Chiya had no other option, she would need to exit the machine and fight in person. She opened the cockpit of the _Red Dove_ in preparation to fight. Chain and his allies exited their machines upon seeing the cockpit open.

The gang leader chuckled while moving toward the _Red Dove_ , “Looks like I win this time, Seppuku!” The two men joined him by the _Red Dove_ , Chain approached it very slowly while holding his clenched fists, “Boys, this time smash his face in. Make sure he's dead this time!”

It was then that Chiya revealed herself by climbing out cautiously. She tripped on some of the things she bought and fell out of the _Red Dove_ onto the ground along with a few purses, comic books, and a box of absorbent pads.

“Oopsies!” The woman picked up the pads and tossed them back into the machine with a humiliated face, “I- I- I use pads because... I- I'm scared of tampons, is all...” She then picked up the comics and laughed, “And... I like comics, they're fun.”

Chain and his men were all jaw dropped, surprised that Seppuku wasn't the one driving the machine, “Hey, what is this!?” Chain complained.

The three were very shocked, never would they have expected a girl to come out—especially one who reads comics. Chain crossed his arms together while thinking of what to do with her.

“Well, looks like we've captured Seppuku's new pet!” Chain announced with a grin.

The woman bobbed her head and smiled, Chiya waved with a nervous smile, “Y- Yeah, he's not here right now. I could go get him, though!”

This was a very poor attempt to escape, and it left the three men laughing. Chain then grunted loudly and pointed at her, “Wait, I remember you!” Chiya's eyes widened, “You were the one at the bar that one day Seppuku was meant to die! You must have been the one that saved him, then...” He angrily beat a fist into his palm.

“Yeah, I guess I did...” she admitted.

Chain was rubbing his chin while thinking, then smirked, “I have an idea. How about we capture and tie you up in a chair? We can use you as bait to lure Seppuku in.”

His men cheered on the idea, but Chiya sighed, accepting that she was to be captured yet again in the exact same way; for the third time, to add on to the insult. Thinking hard, it was at that moment she closed her eyes and growled. This had to stop, she had to stop giving in and becoming a damsel. If she had any hopes of gaining Seppuku's respect and become an F-Zero racer, she would need to get the job done herself for once.

“I'm not going anywhere, you sack of steroids...” she stated with narrowed eyes.

The gang leader grunted, then let out a laugh, “What, you plan on resisting? Is this a joke, little girl?” He snickered, “In case you haven't noticed, you are both outnumbered and just a woman.”

Chiya held her handgun up and aimed toward the two gang members, “I'm sick of being pushed around, I want to do the pushing for once. No, not _want—_ I _am_ going to do the pushing!” she responded furiously.

Chain continued to mock her with another laugh, “You silly thing. Do you really believe that you have the upper hand on us because you have a gun? We have muscles and advanced medicine guarding us.” Chiya raised both her eyebrows as the man strongly beat his knuckles against his own chest, the impact was very rough. “We don't take steroids, but we do take bodily enhancements. You'd need a drill to penetrate these abs. Your bullets didn't harm me before, and it won't harm me now...”

For once, Chiya was not trembling. She was holding the handgun without shaking. “That may be what you think, but are you willing to actually take that chance?”

Chain stopped grinning upon the realization that she had some trick up her sleeve. He studied the angered girl's facial expression in search of fear or doubt in her eyes. He couldn't tell if she was being brave or actually had a plan.

The gang leader chose to resume grinning, “I'll call out your bluff, little girl…”

The last time Chiya fired at Chain, the bullet had hardly affected him aside from make him bleed. This proved that the Bloody Chain indeed had some special protection along with their abnormal muscles. Chiya's eyes trembled, as the two approached her. Her options were limited: She could fire now or be captured yet again.

She let out a shriek and fired her gun at both accompanying men. Chain smirked and shook his head while snickering, but then noticed that his goons stopped moving toward her. His smirk broke as he saw an awful image. Both men fell down dead on the spot.

“Wh- What!?”

The look on Chiya's face was intense; she killed not one human being, but two. Chain couldn't believe that she managed to do it, and Chiya couldn't believe she brought herself to do it.

Soon, Chiya took out the handgun's magazine and revealed silver tipped bullets, “The mall had a discount on armor piercing bullets...”

Chain backed up toward his machine while grunting, he now understood the threat she imposed on him. A trembling Chain looked around for any available rooftop soldiers, but saw none in the immediate area. Chiya was now closing in on him with her gun trained for his head. Chiya was not showing any emotion aside from anger and slight shock. She had reached some kind of limitation and was provoked into using violent resolutions. The tide had turned, she was the one putting fear into her enemy this time.

“Y- You can't kill me! If you kill me, my entire fan base will hate Seppuku! Do you really want that, young woman?”

She did consider this, but this was without a doubt a desperate attempt for life.

“What fan base? Everyone hates you.” Chain grunted hostilely, “I even hated you before I had a reason to. You're just plain and simply a bad F-Zero racer…”

Chain was grinding his teeth angrily, taking great offense from this, but he was in no position to counter her with anything. In a surprising twist, however, Chiya put away her handgun and bowed, “I expect you to leave the people of Mute City alone now,” she demanded in a calm tone.

The man stopped trembling and grunted, somewhat offended by her decision to spare him, “You may have won this battle, but I can still smash Seppuku to bits in the Grand Prix!”

“No you can't.”

She fired two bullets, one in each of his legs. The gang leader was sent down to his knees, now unable to walk.

“What the Hell…” he growled through his teeth.

Chiya grinned and walked up to him, “By the way,” she grabbed his chin and lifted it upward, “You got your ass kicked by a girl. Bring a gun, next time.”

She then kicked him up the chin. He was knocked down onto his back and remained there. Chiya smirked and returned to the _Red Dove_. Moments after getting into the _Red Dove_ and driving off, she looked back and found that Chain managed to army crawl back into his machine. He raced away from her, fearing that she may have second thoughts.

Chiya finally stood her ground and established that she could be just as threatening as anyone else, however, it was not something to gloat about. She killed two unarmed foes and blew out the leader's legs. Nevertheless, she resisted on her own accord; and so Chiya now raced home in hopes of avoiding further conflict with the Bloody Chain.

 

           

 

Seppuku later folded his hands together and asked, “So, I presume Chain's dead?”

Chiya and Seppuku were alone together in his office, the Mysterian stood still while thinking of a response, “No, he got away. But I did shoot both his legs.”

Seppuku put his fingers together and shook in disapproval, “You're saying that you shot both his legs, but, could not kill him?”  She nodded while rolling her eyes away from him. Seppuku sighed and face palmed, seeing right through her very weak lie. “You're a fool. Instead of ending the gang war right there, you let a mass murdering gang leader back on the streets. What were you thinking, child?”

Chiya rubbed the back of her head, now feeling somewhat guilty. “You said I should use my best judgment on things, and it was my best judgment to believe that he learned his lesson.”

Seppuku growled at her choice of words, “What? Learned his lesson? There is a such thing as bad judgment, Flower…”

She walked away from him, “Killing him can be your mission, my mission is to become an F-Zero racer.”

Chiya left the office, leaving Seppuku to his thoughts. The man lowered his eyebrows and hummed in discontent, then sighed. It was now Seppuku who doubted Chiya's true loyalty. From what he has seen from the woman, she was not a bloodthirsty killer fit for his organization. Be as it may, he knew it to be true that Chiya would play her role, eventually...


	11. Lap 11

==Lap 12=

 

The base was silent as usual, Chiya and Earl were in the garage working on her future F-Zero machine at long last. The hardest part of building an F-Zero machine was over for her from the beginning of her career, which was finding the body. Now they had to install the parts Chiya stole from Red Star several days ago. Even after installing these two parts she would need a combat module, that way, she could perform side and spin attacks. Installing these two parts would at least make the machine operational. Finding the combat module would be a future objective.

Earl released an irritated groan, “I made the mistake of keeping the metal plates on the body. If this thing were completely void of metal plates, we would have been able to install these parts without an issue; instead, we have to do this workaround.”

Chiya wasn't helping Earl with anything in particular, rather, she handed him tools when needed. Because of Chiya's limited expertise in engineering, she was of little help.

“I guess you're right, but at least this way we don't have to put the whole thing back together like some kind of puzzle.”

Earl observed the body and recognized what she meant. The machine wasn't put together with massive plates, rather, it was bolted together with what appeared to be several scraps of metal. A machine like the _Red Dove_ was put together with much larger parts, like an armored tank.

The mechanic hummed before nodding, “You know what? I take back what I said, you're right.”

Chiya formed an excited look because of her correct observation. Her machine could have been finished by now, but the two continued getting sidetracked, which disallowed them any time to work. Since Chiya crippled Michael Chain, the Bloody Chain would now have a difficult time regaining its strength. The Bloody Chain lacked an active leader and Red Star lacked vehicles and data. The manpower of both Red Star and the Bloody Chain, however, remained up in the thousands. Despite all these recent accomplishments, the gang war was far from over. For the time being, the Lower City was not nearly as dangerous of a place.

The best option at the moment was to get the annual Grand Prix out of the way and to have Chiya's F-Zero machine built. An exciting thought that often crossed Chiya's mind was how her life would change if Seppuku managed to win the Grand Prix. Unfortunately, the Grand Prix didn't seem to be going his way at the moment, for his overall ranking was nowhere near the top due to his noble action the previous race.

The mechanic stood on a ladder and was trying with all his might to push one of the parts inside the machine. With one strong push, Earl took a sudden fall from the ladder and landed on his back, a startled Chiya ran to his aid.

“God damn!” he yelled in frustration.

Chiya knelt beside him and put her hands on his twitching shoulder, then raised his head up with the other hand. “Earl!” She pushed his chin up and looked deep into his eyes. “Did you break something?”

Earl gazed into her eyes as well, then soon responded, “No, just a painful fall.”

For a moment, Chiya fluttered her eyes with a slight smile; Earl slowly glanced down at her lips and smirked. One thing he found interesting about Mysterians were the natural coloring of their lips. The hue and saturation of her lips were similar to her skin tone. Without lipstick, Chiya was easy to pick out from a crowd.

The man closed his eyes and chuckled, “Has anyone ever told you that your lips are-”

Seppuku suddenly kicked open the door and made his debut of the day, “You two, we need-” He stopped speaking after spotting the two on the ground. Earl was still on the floor while Chiya held him. “Um, okay... Not sure what this is...”

Chiya and Earl both leapt to their feet, “Is Michael Chain back?” she asked.

Seppuku ignored the question, “I booked us for a transport set for _Sand Ocean_.”

Earl tightly shut his eyes, but Chiya reacted with a smile, “Sand Ocean. Is that a region on this planet?”

“No, the planet is called 'Sand Ocean' and is a Federation colony. The next race will be taking place there, and we must always get to off planet races early on.”

The look of discontent Earl had was concerning to Chiya, but on the other hand, going with Seppuku would allow her to see yet another F-Zero race. She didn't object to this. This plan caught her off guard, though, as she had no idea they would be going off planet so soon.

Seppuku growled, “I hate Sand Ocean. The place is too hot and is always bright; I much prefer the dark. This place is a nightmare, I tell you…”

            Chiya puckered her lips and clapped her hands, “Maybe we can tan while we're there! I've never gone tanning before.”

Seppuku returned a hostile face, “Did you not hear me? I hate both the heat and light. All I want to do is isolate myself at a desk and think to myself...”

Chiya's idea of making the trip a fun time was quickly shot to pieces by Seppuku, this left a sick feeling in her stomach. _This isn't the kind of attitude girls find attractive…_

            With a sigh from Earl, he asked, “When do we leave?”

            “Probably after lunch. Speaking of which; Earl, go make me something to eat.”

Earl shot back a look of disgust, “Dammit, I'm no cook, I'm not a gun for hire, I'm not even a doctor; stop making me do these random things!” he demanded.

Seppuku disregarded the comeback, “Make me lunch or I'll fire you…”

Chiya gasped and turned toward Earl with a nervous face. Earl chuckled his threat off, “Oh, please! You would never be able to find a fool stupid enough to work here, and I'm pretty sure I can land any job pertaining to engineering. An official F-Zero mechanic? My _résumé_ couldn't be better even if it came served on a gold platter.”

Seppuku threw both arms up and stomped his way out of the garage, “Fine, whatever. You probably would've poisoned it, anyway!”

Earl continued to watch Seppuku walk away in frustration, then turned back around toward Chiya. He was surprised to find water filling her eyes. It only took a few moments for Earl to realize that perhaps he hurt her feelings by threatening to leave.

She tried hiding a frown as she asked, “Do you think you'll be leaving, soon?”

The man lowered his eyebrows, but didn't respond to the question. “Let's try getting this booster installed…”

 

           

Later that day, Seppuku parted ways with Chiya and Earl and drove off with the _Red Dove_ to the Upper City starport. He once again left the two with a much longer trip since the only other available vehicle was Earl's car. The next race in the Grand Prix would take place in Mute City yet again, this was always better for the three, given that they lived in Mute City.

Earl had left to pack things he felt was needed for the trip. His list of items were comprised of tools and other engineering equipment. Chiya took nothing but her box of ammunition, her room was still very barren, but now had more of an appearance since she went shopping. The planet they were going to was hot and dry with little civilization. As the colony's name foreshadows, the planet was a barren wasteland of sand. With a box of ammunition ready and some clothing, Chiya left her room now prepared for Sand Ocean.

Meanwhile, Earl was leaning against his car as Chiya entered the garage. Earl opened his eyes and looked at her with a smile, “Alright, ready for Hell?” The implication was that the planet would not be enjoyable.

“Yep! What kind of ship will we be leaving on?” Chiya asked.

“He didn't say, but he likes riding the upper class ships, so I imagine he spent a lot on this ride.”

From what Earl had just told her, Chiya could expect that Seppuku was going to surprise them with a large luxurious spaceship. She was excited, yet, very nervous; for she hadn't flown since her days on Mysteria. Even then, she still didn't go into space very often, for the Mysterian government did not allow migrating away from the planet.

           

 

 

The two drove out of the base and into the Lower City streets. Chiya would want to return home as soon as possible. Bidding farewell to the Lower City compensated for the setback of her F-Zero machine being finished, as she hated the Lower City. Little did the two know, someone stood upon a rooftop watching as they drove—it was Brock Blaskovitz.

The soviet gang leader grinned, now confirming that Seppuku's entire team was leaving the Lower City, “With them gone, I have time to rebuild and fight the crippled Bloody Chain.”

One of Brock's men stepped up alongside him and watched the car leave their sight, “Why didn't we try and blow them up?”

            “Because, it is becoming clear to me that Seppuku picked up a good asset, that little girl sent all of our best bikes into a ball of fire. I don't think that any of those three are worth picking a fight with, given how disorganized we are right now...”

“But we're fighting the Bloody Chain?” Brock refused to answer this question, so a new question was raised, “You think we should have just killed those two while we had them tied up?”

With fierceness, Brock swatted his fist against the hammer and sickle on his red shirt, “I believed that they would join us. In time, I would have even let them go free as official Red Star members. For some reason, they resisted. Such courage to fight a foe as large as us is deserving of recognition…” Moments of hesitation ensued before the man turned and raised his assault rifle up, “Comrades, let us go intimidate the people of the streets and remind them who really owns Mute City!”

The group cheered on this suggestion by firing aimlessly fired into the sky. While Team Seppuku take on the third race, Brock would take on the Bloody Chain. Without a doubt, Seppuku would have a mess to clean up once returning home.

 

 

 

            Chiya and Earl drove past the Falcon House. Chiya glanced at the café and quirked her mouth, the building appeared to be closed, “Where's Bart?”

“He needs to get to Sand Ocean as well.”

Chiya put her finger on her lip while looking back at the establishment, “So, he just closes the place during a race? Isn't that when you would get the most business?”

“Yes, but he has other careers. The café is more of a place for discussion than money.”

_Bart must be one successful person to keep that place up just for discussion…_

The two drove down a long bridge crossing over to the other part of Mute City. The bridge was a few miles long and had plenty traffic trying to pass around each other. Michael Chain and his goons often traveled down this bridge back when the Bloody Chain had about ten thousand members, now they were reduced to about one thousand members and stayed within the Lower City. The decline of both Red Star and the Bloody Chain was visible, but both gangs had become inspired to fight with aggression and passion as a result of their tightening situation.

Chiya had only been down this bridge when she first arrived on Earth. On the other side of the city was a spaceport that contained shuttles, transports, and embassy ships. Starports served as the technological successor of airports. The two drove to the starport and were looking around at both small and large ships, all ships had their loading ramps opened so that passengers could bring their vehicles inside the ship as cargo. Earl, however, parked his car in the parking lot and got out.

“We're not taking this with us?” asked Chiya.

“There's really no point. Sand Ocean has zero infrastructure and most citizens have never even seen an automobile in person.” Chiya lowered her eyebrows and gulped, this all sounded very frightening to her.  “We're going to a barren wasteland of sand. The F-Zero track is probably the only thing of importance we'll find there.”

“I see...”

 The two remained standing while Earl scanned the starport for their designated ship, “We're looking for transport 'Eighty-Seven'…”

All of the transports were black with white numbers on the side of each ship as identity. There were only about twenty transports landed in Mute City at the moment, but there were almost a hundred total in the galaxy. Many moments into searching, Earl pointed toward one of the ships which had the number '87' on it.

The man moved toward toward the ship, “I'm assuming Seppuku already got the Red Dove inside.”

Chiya nodded, then followed him as they walked to the massive vessel.

 

 

 

The two later entered the ship but had not found Seppuku. They knew that they were in the correct ship after confirming that the _Red Dove_ was in the cargo bay along with some other F-Zero machines, like the _Golden Fox_ and _Red Gazelle_. The ship was designed for the wealthy, which made two scruffy looking individuals like Chiya and Earl seem like unfitting additions to the puzzle. Both were lower class citizens, this was evident because of their simple clothing.

The center of attention in the ship was a large dining room, much like one that could be found in a fancy restaurant. There were massive windows surrounding the room which allowed passengers to witness the beauty of space. Chiya and Earl stood together around the dining room, the ship hadn't taken off, yet, people were already eating together with waiters bringing food to tables. It seemed like the perfect place to have a romantic dinner, especially while traveling through the beauty of outer space.

            In awe, the Mysterian smacked her lips and asked, “Can we really afford this?”

            Earl rubbed his chin while looking around the dining room, “I don't think Seppuku would approve of you and I having dinner, he might want us to look over the Red Dove.”

            Chiya growled with a humiliated grin and looked down at the floor, “…that's not what I meant…”

            Seppuku had suddenly kicked open the door and walked straight into the dining room. Everyone in the room, including Chiya and Earl, were startled and gave him fearful looks. Seppuku approached his companions, but a waiter intercepted him with a concerned look.

“Sir, please do not damage our property or we may have to kick you off this ship…”

Seppuku cracked his knuckles, “How else did you expect me to open the door, smartass?”

            “With your hands!” Chiya answered loudly.

            “With my h- Yeah, right, no. What if this guy were one of Chain's boys? By breaching through the door, I get the first strike and could start shooting him up with ease.”

The waiter grunted and took slow steps away from the three, disturbed by his explanation. The three stood together in the room with everyone now looking at Seppuku, who was also drawing attention to his companions. No one doubted that this chaotic man was with the two poor looking young adults.

Seppuku laughed, “Don't worry, this happens every time I get on a transport.”

Chiya dropped her lips and released a weak groan of embarrassment.

 

           

            Later on, the three went their separate ways in the ship, which was about to leave Earth for Sand Ocean.

            “Attention passengers, the Mute City Galactic Transportation Team would like to thank you for choosing us as your method of transportation and will now begin our journey to Sand Ocean. Thank you for joining us.”

            Chiya approached a window in the dining room and took one last look at the surface of Mute City. The ship shook and within seconds began its ascension into the sky. This was the first time Chiya flew in years, she had a hard time remembering what space travel felt like. Mute City was soon below them as they prepared to leave Earth's atmosphere, moments later, the last visible building was the Galactic Federation HQ. Chiya looked up as the image of stars and utter darkness began to reveal itself, and finally looking down, Earth could be seen much more clearly. She was intrigued by the way Earth looked in contrast to Mysteria.

In this century most of the continents had changed shapes, Japan and Korea being two of the only unchanged looking areas on the globe. Antarctica had completely disappeared from the globe at this point in time due to global warming.

            A mysterious man spoke from behind her, “A magnificent planet...”

Chiya quickly turned and dropped her jaw like an anvil. Dr. Stewart stood next to her. Dr. Stewart is the pilot of the _Golden Fox_ and a famous medical doctor hired by the Galactic Federation long ago. He was easy to spot because of his finely curled brown hair, red scarf, and slick yellow racing suit.

The Mysterian took a step back while grunting, “O- Oh my- y- you-” Chiya shook her head and beamed. “My sister is such a big fan of you! Oh my goodness!” Stewart grinned and nodded, Chiya continued to speak in a shy tone, “I don't usually travel through space...”

He nodded at her, “We know you don't, Chiya. How is Seppuku doing, anyways?”

 _We know you don't…_ Chiya got a frightened look on her face, her eyes quivered following a disturbed grunt. _He knows my name. Why are they performing background checks on me..?_ Chiya removed the look of shock from her face while staring at him intensely, “He's been good, he's been keeping the gangs suppressed for a while now.”

Stewart nodded with a grin, “That's not what Jody told me. I was told that the Bloody Chain ambushed him yesterday.”

Chiya felt as if she were being interrogated by the Federation and was thus picking out what she could say with much consideration—but she didn't see any sense in lying. “That wasn't Seppuku…”

Stewart raised an intrigued brow, “It was the Red Dove combating the Bloody Chain, though?”

After hesitating to answer, she decided to take a shot in the dirt and tell the truth,, “I was piloting the Red Dove at the time.”

Stewart appeared surprised at her statement, but nodded with a grin, “That makes more sense. Seppuku would've left Chain in a body bag.” He looked out into space, then gasped after realizing something. He turned to face her with two opened eyes, “S- So he's letting you drive F-Zero?”

Chiya took a step back, fearing that she may be in trouble for driving an F-Zero machine without an F-Zero license, “H- He thinks I should have one so I can help control the streets.”

The doctor crossed his arms and nodded, “I see, that doesn't surprise me though. Seppuku appreciates anyone who sides with his standpoint, which is why he and I still stay in touch.”

 _Seppuku has a friend..?_ Chiya scratched her eyebrow with a quirked mouth, “So you support what he's doing in the Lower City?”

“I don't _support_ what you guys do, but I condemn Jody's decision to release him from the team. Seppuku's a killer, and in some cases we need killers. We threw out a valuable asset we could really use today for the hard jobs.” He touched the window with two lowered brows. “It's a shame he didn't become a bounty hunter, instead…”

It was then that Seppuku entered the room and began approaching the two. The tall man came to an immediate stop as soon as he saw Dr. Stewart. Seppuku and Stewart made eye contact with each other, they exchanged awkward stares at one other for a few moments.

Chiya grit her teeth and looked away from the two. _This reminds me of that one Stewart-Falcon fan fiction my sister and I co-wrote..._

The staring continuing for many moments, but Seppuku soon turned back around and walked elsewhere. There was no doubting that he wanted to avoid Dr. Stewart.

_Well, it sure doesn't look like they're on good terms…_

Stewart swallowed while staring at Seppuku, then smirked at Chiya. The Mysterian gave him a nervous smile back. The doctor squinted at her and nodded in a very slow motion.

“Huh, so you _are_ Mysterian.”

A very violent shock blew through Chiya's whole body, “Wh- What!? Don't be silly!” The woman cleared her throat and shook in denial. “It's like Jody said, I'm from Icicle Land!”

The man chuckled and shook negatively, “Okay, and where is 'Icicle Land'?”

Chiya was pinned by this question, “Um—m, y- you know! In that one snowy place of Earth... Africa? Maybe, I forget...”

This response humored Stewart, who brushed his hair up and took a few steps away from her. The woman, scared out of her mind, crossed both hands over her heart with a dropped jaw. Stewart looked back at her and swished his hand.

“Relax, we're not sending you back to Mysteria. We have no paperwork to prove that you're even from Mysteria; I can just tell by your... _features_ that you are Mysterian.” Chiya gulped and nodded. “Besides, we don't do extraditions. Earth is your home, now.”

With this said, Stewart left. This confirmed to Chiya that she couldn't keep her identity a secret. Her Mysterian blue eyes, pale skin, colorless lips, accent, and facial shape were all contributing evidence to her Mysterian background. Being Mysterian still wasn't something she would gloat about, but she would need to accept that there was no hiding her race.

 

 

 

Several minutes went by and Chiya had been sitting down in a chair with nothing to do. She was somewhat sad that neither Earl nor Seppuku had socialized with her much, leaving her to suspect that they were doing something without her. She took exceptional pain because of Earl's absence. Though she refused to admit it, the Mysterian glanced around the room in search of Earl every few minutes.

Minutes later, the woman took notice of something unusual. People crowded around the windows and were beginning to panic over something. A curious Flower decided to get up and see what was going on. Before she could get up, Earl ran into the room and looked out one of the windows. Chiya approached him with a cautious face.

            “What's out there, Earl?”

Earl was grinding his teeth with a troubled look, Chiya knew something bad was about to happen. Her friend wasn't responding to the question and it was mere seconds later that Seppuku moved up behind the two.

“You two, we need to go get our guns.”

Earl nodded affirmatively and ran with Seppuku down the hallway, Chiya widened her eyes and followed. Chiya was becoming very frustrated on the account that no one was informing her of what was going on. It was clear enough to her that something bad was happening.

The ship's sirens soon went off in the ship. Within seconds, security personnel came running down the halls with loaded assault rifles. Chiya widened her eyes and gasped while running alongside her friends to the cargo bay. All of the monitors in the ship turned on—revealing Samurai Goroh.

The three came to a quick halt and looked up at a screen, a grinning Goroh lifted up his perfectly round sunglasses and spoke, “Attention passengers! You have been intercepted by my crew and I! If you wish to escape with your lives, you will prepare all of your valuables for us to take!”

Seppuku growled while shaking his fist at the screen. The three continued their way down the ship's hallways as Goroh continued talking, his voice played through the loudspeakers as well. Goroh had somehow hacked into all of the screens and speakers in the ship.

“Your best option is to comply. Any attack made toward our vessel will result in your immediate termination!”

Once in the cargo bay, Seppuku ran over to the _Red Dove_ and grabbed his rifle, he also threw Chiya her handgun that he had hidden for her. Even Earl was handed a spare handgun he always kept in the machine. Chiya was shaking her head in disbelief. It seemed as though she couldn't get a break from all the violence in her life.

Seppuku looked at the two quickly while loading his rifle, “This won't be easy. Goroh has his ship's guns trained on us. Goroh follows a code of honor and will retreat if he's defeated. We can't kill him, however, or his second-in-command will destroy this ship,” Seppuku explained.

Chiya was trembling and biting her fingernails, this was happening all too quickly. Mere moments ago they were enjoying a simple ride through space, now they were being attacked by the Goroh Clan. Seppuku nodded at the two, guessing that both understood the risks at hand and what needed to be done to make it through the situation alive. The three walked back into a hallway now equipped with weaponry. Chiya was having difficulty grasping the situation, though she was assuming that the pirates would stand no match against the heavy armored security officers.

They soon met up with several security officers, all of which were holding assault rifles. They were waiting at the docking bridge that connected with Goroh's ship, the pirates would need to come through the docking bridge in order to enter the ship.

The security captain in charge pointed toward the three in shock, “H- Hey, what the Hell! They can't have guns aboard this ship!”

The officers prepared to jump the three and Chiya prepared to scream. Fortunately, Dr. Stewart rounded a corner slowly, “Leave them be. They are under the Galactic Federation's protection…”

The officers all lowered their weapons upon Dr. Stewart's request, he was of a higher authority than the captain on board and would have to listen. Everyone turned around in preparation for the inevitable pirate assault. They only had so many officers to fight with, meaning they were without a doubt going to be outgunned by Goroh. With enough work, though, everyone could get out of the situation alive.

Seppuku nodded at Dr. Stewart in appreciation for the help, then aimed his rifle toward the docking bridge. The sound of many pirates could be heard from the docking bridge. The big fight was coming, an unexpected delay in their travel…


	12. Lap 12

==Lap 13=

 

Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku stood still with their weapons directed toward the docking bridge door, which was connecting the transport to Samurai Goroh's ship. Amongst the three were Dr. Stewart and several armed security officers. Stewart was traveling to Sand Ocean, coincidentally, the same time as Team Seppuku. Chiya was trembling at the thought of how this would turn out. From what she understood, Goroh was a masterful warrior and an excellent pirate leader.

The security officers stacked themselves around the door, many of which trembled at the sound of pirates charging down the bridge. The charging footsteps soon ceased and everything became silent. It was the silence that sealed fear into everyone, the door could open at any moment. Chiya and Earl exchanged one last glance before all Hell broke loose. The pirates opened the door and sent an immediate array of bullets over the room. Quick casualties were taken on both sides, the battle began and there were pirates maneuvering through the corpses to get a better shot off. The security officers were becoming overwhelmed in a matter of seconds, despite the poor quality of weaponry the pirates fought with.

Seppuku's lone bullet ripped through the skulls of two pirates, but in return, he was sprinkled by many submachine gun bullets. He and his companions got behind the wall in time. The pirates continued struggling to get through the door. As much of the security got massacred by the invading forces, Seppuku soon lowered his rifle with gritted teeth.

“We need to fall back, we're not going to win this fight,” Seppuku told his companions.

Chiya and Earl ran with him to the cargo bay. Dr. Stewart spotted that the three were retreating and ordered what security units remained to fall back a different direction. Stewart ran up and grabbed a wounded officer, then carried him back with the other survivors.

Moments later, several pirates began swarming into the ship wielding shotguns. Most of the pirates were bearing the Japanese battle blag on their clothing to signify their allegiance to Goroh. The large pirate leader soon came walking down the docking bridge, he dragged his katana across the floor as he walked which left a sharp sound. He stopped in front of the dead bodies and sheathed his sword.

“Loot the bodies and pursue the resistance,” Goroh ordered his men.

              
           

 

Seppuku, Chiya, and Earl fell back into the cargo bay, where the _Red Dove_ remained with many other vehicles. Chiya was sitting on the floor traumatized, her morale was shattered after seeing so many innocent people die in front of her. Earl was kneeling behind some crates with his gun ready, he was anticipating that the pirates would arrive in the cargo bay, an obvious place for pirates to look for expensive goods. Seppuku was pacing back and forth in the open while contemplating on a plan of action. No one was talking to each other and Seppuku was becoming more stressed by the minute. Of the three, Chiya was the one ready to throw a white flag and give Goroh what he wants. Seppuku understood just as well that the cargo bay would be the first place that the pirates would check once they secure the area, the pirates would first need to deal with any resistance on the ship.

The Man of Darkness stopped pacing, “Alright, here's the plan...”

Chiya stood up with a hopeful expression, a Seppuku-made plan always seemed to work in the far stretch.

“Chiya, you and I are going to find Goroh and resolve this matter ourselves.” Chiya nodded then looked at Earl, “Bendek, you'll disguise yourself as a pirate and enter his ship. Once you disable the weapons system, you just need to get back here alive.”

The first part of the plan was fine, the second part left Chiya tugging the man's arm in a hostile way, “I- I object to that plan! You can't make Earl do something so crazy! It's a bad plan, come up with something else.”

Seppuku poked her forehead, “I don't want to hear any of your sass, Ms. Mercy.” Seppuku was referring to Chiya's tendency to let her enemies live.

The Mysterian had grinding teeth and a clenched fist, as though she were about to land a punch on Seppuku. Earl didn't object to the plan, but Chiya was opposed to it. She knew this would end in a very bad way.

Earl shrugged, “No, Chiya, he's right. If we don't deal with that ship's weapons we're just sitting ducks.”

Chiya gasped at his positive response, “But can't we just do it as a team _after_ or _before_ we deal with Goroh?”

He fake chuckled in an attempt to calm her down, “Relax, I'll be fine.”

Chiya was looking back and forth at the two in search of a different solution, she appeared to be the only one opposed to this plan.

“Damn my soul to Hell if I die before I finish your F-Zero machine,” he said with a grin.

She growled in further opposition, but found herself outnumbered two to one, “Fine, I- I'll trust you…” she said with a frown.

With this plan set in motion, Seppuku already began walking toward the door, “Then let's do this; I hate being behind schedule…”

           

           

Goroh and his men already left the area where the first battle took place, thus leaving the docking bridge unguarded. His pirate crew was now having a standoff between Dr. Stewart and his men between a hallway with a door separating the two. One side of the hallway had Dr. Stewart and the security forces, the other had Goroh and his pirates. Both sides had thinning numbers, but Goroh had plenty of reinforcements back in the ship that he could call in.

The samurai stood in the back of the hallway while crossing his arms impatiently, then hummed as the door opened. An unarmed security officer came through the door and walked up the hallway with his hands up, a paper was in one hand. Goroh issued a hand signal to hold fire, thus allowing the lone officer to proceed toward Goroh. The officer trembled with an understanding that he could be blown to pieces within seconds.

“The Galactic Federation has readied an offer for you…” he said holding the paper out.

Goroh grinned and unsheathed his katana, then slashed the paper out of his hand into two separate pieces. The officer stood shaking in amazement, then looked down at his hand thankful that it was still attached to his arm. Goroh grabbed the two scraps in midair and read the offer that was written down.

“Twenty thousand Credits,” Goroh tilted his glasses at the man and chuckled, “I knew Stewart was an officer, doctor, and racer; but I had no idea he was also a comedian…”

His crew began to laugh at the offer for peace, Goroh did not laugh but continued grinning. He crumpled the papers up and handed it back to the officer.

“They're going to have to do better than that!”

The officer took the sliced paper and stepped away from him, he walked back toward the door that separated the two groups from combating each other.

Goroh sheathed his blade again, “Tell the Federation they have five minutes to make a better offer before we storm that hallway!”

The officer rushed back through the door and nearly fell over upon entering. The door slammed shut and the two groups continued their short armistice. Goroh was in doubt that they would make him an offer worth listening to, but the suspense would break the morale of the officers and make them easier targets.

 

 

 

Earl equipped one of the Japanese battle flag headbands left on a corpse and then lifted up a shotgun. Chiya stood by Seppuku with a look of great discontent. Earl was now ready for his role in the mission by infiltrating Goroh's ship.

Chiya continued frowning at Earl, hoping that her baby face would convince him to reconsider. But alas, he touched her shoulder and said, “It'll be a piece of cake. I'll be in and out just like that!”

Seppuku flourished his rifle with a spin, “Then this is where we part ways.”

Earl held the shotgun over his shoulder and snapped his fingers, “Alright, good luck to all of us then.” He stepped into the bridge and looked back at the sad Flower. He pointed at her and smirked, “Don't _you_ die. I'd be bored without someone in the garage to talk to every day,” he said finally leaving into the bridge.

Chiya and Seppuku departed down the hallway in search of the raiding pirates.

           

 

Goroh and his men were giving the Federation little time to make a final offer. The pirate leader stood above a fallen shelf while he rubbed the handle of his katana with lacking patience. Part of Goroh knew that the Federation wouldn't offer him a reasonable ransom, rather, they were using this time to form a better plan. Deciding that enough time had passed, the pirate leader stepped down from the fallen object and put a hand on his captain's shoulder.  
            “Alright, you're in charge of the fight from here on out. I'm going to scout out the other sections of this ship for surviving officers.”

The captain grinned at him as Goroh proceeded to walk away, “Alright, men. Blow that door down to pieces!” he ordered loudly.

 

           

           

 

Seppuku and Chiya were rounding hallways carefully. They were finding bullet holes in the walls, but still no leads on the pirates. It was obvious enough that they were still very close by, they also had to account for the fact that more pirates could come from behind to reinforce Goroh's already thinning numbers.

Chiya raised a finger and proposed, “Let's head toward the dining room. I'm guessing it's the passengers Goroh wants, right?”

“Yep, once the security is out of the way he can mug all these people and leave. Let's not allow him the pleasure of doing so…”

The two suddenly heard an explosion followed by gunfire. From the volume of both sounds, the two were no more than two halls away from the fight. They ran toward the source of the explosion together with their weapons ready.

 

 

 

Earl entered Goroh's ship and a few pirates had already walked past him without noticing anything suspicious. He walked around the ship in public but not in a way that may attract attention. Goroh's ship was smaller than the transport but would still be a puzzle trying to find the weapons console. When he does find them, he would still need to figure out how to disable the weapons without any of Goroh's pirates noticing. This was a difficult operation to pull off, no doubt.

He walked along the side of the main hallway, which was of enormous width. The ship was dark and had crewmen walking around, most were equipped with weaponry. Each door the man looked in were irrelevant to what he was looking for. His initial fear was that the weapons system could be controlled from the command bridge, which would be the most populated area of the ship.

Moments later, he entered a room with computer screens, but these were not what he was looking for. Something did interest him, however. The screens displayed the pros and cons of the _Fire Stingray_ , Goroh's F-Zero machine. Earl quickly read some of the important details, like that the booster was of the rare Class-S. This was a part not even Captain Falcon could acquire with ease. Earl noticed another panel that revealed a project called _Super Stingray_ , there was an image of a shiny black version of the _Fire Stingray_ with the same flame decals. The screen detailed many special features that the machine would have. The estimated cost was nearly a billion credits.

 _This must be what he wants to do with the prize money if he wings the Grand Prix. He'd be unstoppable if he built this…_ If Samurai Goroh won the Grand Prix, it was possible that he would use it all on creating some kind of advanced F-Zero machine. If the final design went as planned, no machine would be able to stop Goroh. He'd keep winning every year.

           

           

            The pirates and officers were still combating each other. The pirates had officially pushed through the door and were now using the officers original cover against them. This was essentially a modern take on trench warfare. Both sides were taking heavy losses, but the pirates had much larger manpower. As more officers fell, Dr. Stewart was finding a resolution to the conflict more far fetched by the minute, but failure would make the Federation appear weak in the eyes of the public.

To the great fortune of the officers, Chiya and Seppuku slid behind the cover that the pirates had originally been using. The door was left open, thus allowing for the two vigilantes to fire at the pirates from the rear. The pirate captain gasped as his men dropped in heavy numbers. The problem the pirates faced was that they were fighting a two front war—the pirates could only take cover from the officers, and were thus exposed to Chiya and Earl.

Seppuku was blazing through every pirate he shot at, Chiya was only making about 1/4th of her shots.

“Flower, shoot better!”

“I don't know how to shoot!

The pirates were forced to pick which targets to shoot at, but were not coming to a mutual agreement. The pirates continued to take heavy casualties before the captain finally sprinted back to the door and slammed it shut. Chiya and Seppuku would need to open the door again if they wished to continue fighting.

“What now?” Chiya asked.

Seppuku stood still, he hadn't seen Samurai Goroh anywhere in the room, a clear indication that the pirate leader was elsewhere.

“Goroh must still be in his ship.”

Chiya looked at him quickly, “Okay, but are we going to help Dr. Stewart?”

Seppuku shook his head, “If we open that door we'll be massacred.”

The girl's eyes sparkled in sorrow at the thought of all the officers perishing, Seppuku sighed and looked into her eyes. “We'll have to wait it out. Hopefully, if enough time goes by, they'll stop looking at this door and we can continue fighting.”

“I just hope Earl's okay…”

 

           

 

The pirates were left trembling. The attack they had just endured left them very limited, but they still had a fighting chance against the officers who had now retreated as far as they could go.

A pirate approached the captain and asked, “Sir, the officers have nowhere else to run, do we pursue them right to the end?”

The captain gritted his teeth while contemplating whether they still had enough to rob the passengers at this point. It was at this point he began to doubt Goroh, understanding that he simply fled the battlefield, rather than searching for others on the ship. The captain growled at the situation they were in. Goroh threw them into a situation they could no longer handle.

“Now I see why Antonio Guster betrayed Goroh. We're just fighting for his own personal gain!” the captain shouted furiously.

The other pirates looked at him with concerned faces. The captain shut his eyes and rubbed his chin, “First, we finish off these pests, rob the place, then we kill Goroh. This is my clan now!”

His men gazed at him in amazement, mostly amazed by this sudden betrayal. He was declaring himself new leader of the pirate legion, but would need to eliminate Goroh in order to secure his position as new pirate leader.

The captain looked up and pointed forward, “Attack! Fight these wealthy scum into submission!”

 

 

           

 

During Earl's search for the weapons system console, he had acquired information that his search would, indeed, bring him to the command bridge. The weapons could be controlled on the main console located on the bridge. Shutting the system down would be more difficult than he thought, given that the bridge would be populated with many pirates.

While searching for a way to the bridge, Earl was shocked to find a pirate walking toward him. He had to think of something to say or risk being uncovered.

Earl saluted the pirate who now faced him, “Goroh wants me to look over the ship's weapons, says that we're probably going to have to blow the transport sky high. Where can I find the bridge?”

The pirate was skeptical, “How can you not know this?” Earl was left speechless and almost trembling, but fortunately, the pirate pointed at a door behind him, “Elevator will get you there. Now, move aside.” He pushed Earl aside and walked into a restroom.

The mechanic blinked several times, feeling foolish for not spotting this. He entered the elevator, closed the door, and had it go up. He made it go up and was taken to the ship's command bridge. Once the door opened, he was disappointed to find nearly forty pirates hanging around the deck. He was spot on with his prediction that the deck would be packed.

Earl would never be able to get the weapons offline with so many people watching him, especially since the consoles he had to access were already manned with technicians. Stepping out of the elevator drew no suspicion toward him, he was at least safe from being caught.

Next, he hid behind a wall and contemplated on what to do next. He was either going to try and persuade them to turn the weapons off or find a way to get everyone off the deck. He looked around for any possibility to get everyone off the ship, but getting so many men out of a room was plain and simply a difficult task. Earl was beginning to conclude that he may have to run up to the computer and bash it to pieces, then run for his life. Fortunately, before making such a decision, he spotted the perfect breakthrough as to how he could get everyone off the bridge. On several walls within the ship were red encased devices that served as intercoms. All he needed to do was break into this intercom and order everyone in the ship to leave the bridge.

Earl was now determined to take a shot at doing this and made his way over to the most concealed looking device that was against a wall. He grabbed out a pocket tool and worked on prying the case open. After little work, he broke the case off and grabbed the intercom, now he had to think of something to say.

           

 

 

Chiya looked through the window of the door that the pirates closed. The pirates left the hallway at this point.

“Seppuku, I think we can go in. No one's in there.”

The tall man returned a look of intrigue, “You really want to help out, huh?” Chiya nodded, and Seppuku grinned, pleased by her desire to help, “Maybe you're not the pacifist I claim you to be.”

The two went through the door and charged down the hallway, the pirates were just around the corner fighting the few remaining officers. The officers had been pinned against the door leading to the dining room, which was where all of the passengers were hiding. The officers could retreat no further, otherwise risk civilian casualties.

Seppuku and Chiya slowly approached the side of the wall, preparing for a final assault on the pirates. Chiya began to tremble at the thought of how many pirates may be left, but then got a burst of motivation. Seppuku was amazed as he felt a gust of wind go past him, Chiya skipped around the corner and fired her gun toward what was left of the pirates. Once again the pirates were caught off guard; only six remained, including the captain.

Chiya and Seppuku each took down a pirate, and so the officers blitzed into the room assaulting the remaining men. Within a matter of seconds, only the Captain remained as the other pirates fell dead. The captain was trembling, now surrounded from both directions. He stood trembling as though he were about to collapse, he was still aiming his shotgun at Seppuku. The Man of Darkness gazed into the panicking pirate's eyes with an intimidating look. The captain was now frightened to the point where he couldn't keep his gun steady anymore—so he dropped it.

The frustrated officer grabbed onto his face with both hands and fell to his knees, “It's not fair. It wasn't suppose to go like this…” he muttered in chilling defeat.

           

 

Earl switched on the intercom. He had now come up with a devious and risky plan, “Attention all personnel. Samurai Goroh has ordered all men to meet inside the cargo bay for a surprise. The ransacking of the transport more than plentiful...”

All pirates on the bridge gasped at Earl's message, and without questioning the order, stampeded down one floor to the cargo bay. Most of them began charging down the stairway while others left to the elevator. Earl moments later looked around the corner and found no one left on the bridge. His plan worked better than expected. Without hesitation, he ran to the consoles and began working on the weapons system. Without much work, he had disabled all primary and secondary ship weapons. Earl smiled at his success, but then noticed one problem with this. A pirate could simply turn it back on.

Following this realization, Earl narrowed his eyes in disbelief. Fortunately, he came up with a new idea, an idea that made him beam and snap his fingers.

“Oh, I know!”

 He lifted up a chair and smashed the console in pure rage, this would ensure that no one reactivates the weapons. After wrecking the console beyond repair, he approached a second console focusing on security access.

“Let's see...”

He looked up at the bridge window, the live feed from security cameras were displayed on several screens. The cargo bay feed revealed many, if not all, of Goroh's pirates. Earl grinned and executed a simple command on the console. The cargo bay door closed and magnetically locked itself.

He had now trapped everyone inside the cargo bay. Following a great victory, Earl whistled a tune while making his trip back to the transport ship.

 

 

           

Seppuku slammed the captain against the wall and throttled him, “Where's Goroh?” he demanded.

The captain was weak and defeated, thus reduced to shivering and giving unclear responses. Seppuku continued to shake the man with great intensity.

“Tell us where Goroh is before you get me angry!” Seppuku shook the pirate around as though he were a spray can, “You don't want to see me when I'm angry! I get very violent!”

Stewart grabbed Seppuku by the shoulder, then looked into the captain's eyes. Seppuku continued holding the man by the neck.

“We know you weren't the one behind the attack—Goroh was. You may be in a lot of trouble, but the Galactic Federation will always look at those who do the right thing in the end in a positive light, even if you are a criminal.”

The captain looked at Stewart with a feeling of shame for his role in the attack, “H- He said he was going to check the other sections of the ship for survivors…”

Seppuku looked back toward the hallway, “So, he may still be in this ship somewhere...”

His thought was interrupted as Chiya tugged on Seppuku's arm with a concerned look, “Come on, let's go find Earl!”

Seppuku nodded, having forgotten about Earl's role in this mission, “That bastard better have not died on the ship.”

The two left the hallway, the remaining three officers saluted Seppuku and Chiya as they ran off to find Earl. Both parts of the mission were complete, now it was a matter of regrouping.

 

 

           

About a minute later, Chiya and Seppuku were sprinting through the hallways. They had to find Goroh before he could get back to his ship, Chiya was more so focused on finding Earl. Everywhere they ran were bullet shells, corpses, and pools of blood. This part of the ship was dark, given that the lights in most halls had been shot during the firefights. Chiya was terrified by her surroundings, the darkness and amount of bodies made it look like the set to a slasher film.

While running, Seppuku glanced at Chiya and explained, “Goroh probably went for the command bridge of this ship to find the guys in charge.”

It was then that the two came to a rough stop before the docking bridge. Chiya and Seppuku alike gasped. Samurai Goroh stood motionless in front of the two with his katana drawn, his teeth grinded in fury. Chiya dropped her jaw and took a step back, she shook her head while gasping. Earl stood captive in Goroh's arms.

“Goroh!” Seppuku yelled.

An almost teary-eyed Chiya pleaded, “Let him go!”

Goroh dismissed the plea and gave Seppuku a hostile gaze, “Seppuku, you truly are a man of mystery! You have taken much from me today, so now I will take something from you!”

“Don't do it, Goroh...”

Chiya and Earl were staring at each other in silence, Seppuku and Goroh exchanged challenging gazes. The samurai's right eyebrow twitched a few times at the Man of Darkness. And after a few more moments of gazing, Goroh took action.

In no more than a second, the pirate leader thrust his katana through Earl's back. Earl released a loud grunt and dropped his jaw, he then gazed at the steel blade sticking out of his chest. His eyes became faint after gazing at the layer of blood going down the sword. Chiya screamed and Seppuku held his rifle up.

“Goroh!”

Goroh withdrew his katana and threw Earl at Seppuku. Goroh took the brief opportunity to run through the docking bridge. Seppuku caught Earl and passed him to Chiya, then pursued Goroh into the docking bridge. Chiya dropped to her knees and looked down at her best friend in horror, her jaw remained drop and her bottom lip trembling. Seppuku was right behind Goroh, but it was too late. Goroh closed the docking bridge door and stood behind the glass watching as Seppuku rushed toward him with great determination. Seppuku came up to the glass door and beat against it with great force, then tried shooting it. The glass was too durable to be broken.

An enraged Seppuku gave up and put away his rifle. Goroh continued to stare with a blank expression, then sheathed his katana. He walked away into his own ship.

Seppuku angrily marched out of the docking bridge and looked at the distraught Flower. She was holding a barely conscious Earl on the ground as blood soaked his shirt. Seppuku stood gazing at Earl with a blank expression, this was a situation he hadn't prepared for.

All passengers were safe, but Earl remained unstable. Seppuku's list of targets now included Samurai Goroh, no question in mind. Chiya shook her head while feeling Earl's forehead, then murmured a few words into his ear while hugging him tightly.


	13. Lap 13

==Lap 14=

 

The transport had eventually returned to its plotted course with Goroh now gone, but the passengers were kept away from most areas of the ship, for the halls contained blood and corpses. The lone survivor of the pirate raiding party was Goroh's second-in-command man, he was being held captive by the Federation in another section of the ship. Most passengers couldn't return to their calm state after such a traumatizing experience. No doubt, the company in charge would pay heavy reparations as a result of the conflict.

The ship's intercom turned on, “Again, we would like to apologize for the serious inconvenience. The matter has been dealt with and all expenses for this trip have been waved. At this time we must ask that everyone remain in the dining room. Thank you.”

Chiya now stood beside Earl, who was unconscious in an emergency room of the ship. Dr. Stewart was available to help the wounded man, and to their luck, Stewart was well qualified in the medical field. Stewart crossed his arms and looked up at Chiya and Seppuku. Chiya had watery eyes, while Seppuku stood with his typical look of non-amusement.

“That's about all I can do for him.” He stepped away from Earl's bed and came beside Seppuku. “I patched everything up to the best of my ability.”

Seppuku nodded, “What are the odds of survival?”

Stewart looked him in the visor and offered the utmost truth, “I won't lie, that all depends on whether or not he wakes up soon. Medical science does not always prevail, sadly.”

The eyes of the young woman widened, “Y- You mean, Earl might die?”

“If he doesn't wake up soon, that will be a bad sign.” Chiya lowered her brows. “It's up for fate to decide.”

Now, with raging passion, Chiya barred her teeth and grabbed Seppuku by the arm, “This is all your fault! You never should have assigned him such a dangerous mission. I warned you that this would happen! I knew this would happen!”

Seppuku remained still and looked down at Earl. He wasn't regarding Chiya's tugging. He soon spoke, “Whether you like it or not, it happened. Nothing can be changed by shouting at me.”

Chiya was becoming angrier by the second. She was going to blame both Goroh and Seppuku for this tragedy. Whether Earl live or die, she now held a special kind of hatred for the pirate leader.

The tall man continued, “You just feel the need to blame someone, I get that. But the mission I gave him had nothing to do with his fate. He did his part of the mission with perfect execution, he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's unfortunate, but life goes on...”

Chiya let go of Seppuku and put her hands down along the edge of the bed. She retained an angry expression while trembling in frustration, “Do you even care if Earl makes it?”

Seppuku's response came with hesitation, he soon looked down at her and answered, “Of course I do. If he dies, I'll need someone else to do my F-Zero repairs—probably you.”

She glared and finally let her anger assume control. Clenching her fist, she smacked Seppuku across the face. He was pushed back no more than an inch. The punch had little to not effect on Seppuku, but regardless, he looked at her in disgust.

Chiya threw both arms up into the air and shouted, “If he dies, th- then I'm done with you!”

Now Seppuku blew up at her, “Idiot, Earl _wanted_ to do this! It was his wish that you didn't worry about him before he entered Goroh's ship. Even if Earl does die, you honored his final request and allowed him to do so in peace!”

Chiya found his choice of words very provoking. He made it sound like Earl was good as dead. She resisted the urge to attack him again, fearing that he may not allow her to do so again.

“You really don't care, do you?” The question made Seppuku's eyebrow raise, “He breaks his back day in and day out working on your machine like a slave, and this is how you repay him. While he sleeps, you talk about him as though he's just some new car that got totaled. Blimey, life doesn't just _go on_... a person is nearing death and all you care about is your stupid F-Zero machine!”

Stewart swallowed and glanced at Seppuku, who appeared somewhat offended by her final remark. He revealed his sharp teeth to Chiya and answered, “The Red Dove is not stupid.”

“Se- See!? All you care about is-”

She couldn't finish her sentence, nor did she want to. This was much like arguing with a narrow-minded child. Seppuku refused to acknowledge the actual situation. Chiya was close to losing a friend, but all Seppuku seemed to see was a downed asset. Enough was enough, Chiya had to get away from the self-centered man.

“Wanker!” Chiya shouted.

The woman marched toward the door with grinding teeth. Seppuku still had the audacity to shoot forward a final query.

“If I'm such a ruthless 'wanker', why am I allowing a softie like you to take up a whole room in my base!?”

Chiya continued past Stewart in a blazing fury. The doctor felt as though Chiya left a trail of fire behind where she walked. The tension between the two was intense, but more so, the cauldron of pain and hatred was cooking within the Mysterian's gut.

Following Chiya's loud exit, Seppuku looked at Stewart and sighed, “I can't lose both of them. My entire organization will collapse.”

“You could drop all the violence and try rejoining the Federation.”

Seppuku brushed off the proposal without considering his options. When it came to Jody Summer and the Federation, Seppuku was one-sided on the matter.

“I'll do that the day Summer kisses my ass,” he joked before leaving the room.

 

 

 

Chiya walked down the hallways, but somehow managed to disregard all the blood and bullets. With her new found best friend on the verge of death, her attention was locked away from the other horrors surrounding her life.

The woman continued down the hallways with a frustrated look. She was hoping to walk off some of her anger. Part of her knew that Seppuku was not to blame for what happened to Earl, for what he said was true, to an extent. Earl was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had he returned from his mission at any other time, he wouldn't have been caught by Goroh and the mission would have went as planned. All in all, Chiya had the natural human desire to blame anyone who may have played a role in this predicament. Goroh was the central character to blame for the tragedy, but there was one person Chiya hadn't suspected to have played a role in Earl's end result. She didn't suspect herself, until now.

_I didn't try hard enough. I should have told him how I felt when I still could; how my heart demanded that he not go on the mission. Now he may never know how bad I wanted him to stay away..._

With heavy emotions, Chiya approached a window and forced her head down against both arms. “I'm the worst friend there ever was in this universe, aren't I..?”

She raised her head and looked out the window at the endless amount of stars. Even when hurt, she could still find much beauty in the vast amount of stars; space also served as an excellent environment for thinking. Chiya understood that she was too deep in Seppuku's organization to just quit, however, staying with him continued to develop a sense of sorrow. It was as if everything she had gone through up to this point was still going bad. To this point, she couldn't believe that men died by her hands; for Chiya was an advocate for peace and prosperity. Something she still found exciting about working with Seppuku was the F-Zero racing. Seppuku had three more races to compete in, for the annual Grand Prix had a total of five tracks per year. Still, the question she now posed was whether or not she could possibly support a racer who killed her dear friend. Without Earl, Chiya would become lost and practically alone once more.

As Chiya gazed upon a lone star, she began to plot something devious in her head that may compensate for the damage Goroh did to her life.

           

 

 

Seppuku later found himself outside of the emergency room leaning against a wall. His visor was covered by the brim of his fedora. Chiya, much calmer, now approached him.

“Lieutenant Seppuku,” she greeted.

Seppuku made little effort in moving his hat up. He gave her a brief look and hummed, “Yeah?”

Chiya looked at him with a devious smirk and two twitching brows, “I was thinking that perhaps a good way to get vengeance would be to take out Goroh in the third race…” She made this proposal while rubbing her hands together.

Seppuku offered an approving grin. Her sudden change of heart was enjoyable to him, but he killed the grin mere seconds later and spoke, “I love your idea, but I can't do that.”

“Why?” she snapped.

“His fan base is too large. If I take him out, we'll have our asses watched by thousands, maybe millions, of angry fans.”

Chiya grunted and flailed her arms up, “What? Why!? Why would anyone be a fan of someone who kills innocent people for greed!?”

The man grinned again, “That's humanity at its common level, sweetheart. He's famous, he's a legend, and he's got a good story. When teenagers want to act rebellious, they'll root for Goroh instead of Falcon. It's stupid, but these are just the kind of people we gotta live with, sorry to say.”

“But why do you fear them? You're the most bloody powerful person I've ever met! Surely, some angry fans don't scare you.”

Chiya had a point, but Seppuku had an answer waiting. “A long time ago, prior to the famous F-Zero X Grand Prix, someone actually managed to damage the Blue Falcon's engine intentionally.”

“And?”

“Let's just say, that person is racing in the clouds, now...”

This left Chiya more defeated than upset as she sighed and collapsed onto the floor. She sat against the wall and held onto her forehead with sorrow. Seppuku looked down at her and grunted, he was beyond surprised to find Chiya expressing pure sadness over the situation. He knew that her sorrow wasn't over the fact that they couldn't get revenge on Goroh, but rather, it was evident that she was suffering over what had happened to Earl. He couldn't quite believe or understand the fact that Chiya cared so much for a young man she still knew so little about. Following many moments of silent staring, Seppuku sighed in discontent and knelt down beside her.

“Look, everything will be fine...” he hesitantly assured her. Chiya looked up at him with wide eyes, this was a rare moment where Seppuku tried making the situation calmer, “Your incompetent God wouldn't put an engineer of his skill in our universe, just to be killed by an obese samurai while on the way to Sand Ocean.”

 _Incompetent God? Well, this probably confirms that he's not a Christian…_ she thought in slight offense.

Brushing off the comment, Chiya pushed her fingers together while looking down at her feet, “I had friends on my planet, but none of them were good. I just feel so alone now…” Seppuku looked down at her with slight satisfaction over the fact that she was no longer shouting at him. “I'm sorry if I've been more than a handful as of late. I just don't want to lose any more friends…”

Seppuku stood up and crossed his arms, “Perhaps we should try and... _relax_ , while we're here...”

           

 

 

            Later on, three F-Zero racers were invited to a private area of the ship. These three were composed of Lieutenant Seppuku, Dr. Stewart, and Mighty Gazelle—the cyborg. Chiya, not being an F-Zero racer, was barred from coming along. She remained near the emergency room, as Chiya desired to be the first to know if Earl survives or not.

Seppuku crossed one leg over the other and shrugged with a proposing face. Stewart had a questionable look and was scratching his chin in slow circles. Mighty Gazelle stood in the center of the room staring at Seppuku.

The Man of Darkness concluded, “So, we've reached an agreement?”

Stewart nodded, “Forging an alliance to keep Goroh from winning the Prix. Under most circumstances, I'd decline. But that man has left a lot of good people dead, wounded, and mentally scarred.”

Gazelle twisted his torso to the side, “Samurai Goroh has imposed a very provocative action toward humanity. I accept your proposal for a mutual union.”

The immediate response given by Seppuku was to jump up and lecture, “Hey, listen here! This is an 'alliance' not a... ' _mutual union_ '...” After ranting about this, he looked up at Gazelle and Stewart and explained, “This isn't a long-lasting alliance. The term of our alliance will be for one race. We retire that fat bastard in this one, then we resume lone sharking.”

“Sounds good,” said Stewart. “And with three racers, this can surely be accomplished by the second lap.”

Seppuku sighed, “We can't risk actually killing Goroh, though. The fans would have our heads if we did that.”

“There'll be times outside of the race to deal with him for good. The best we can do now is ensure that he doesn't win the Grand Prix.”

Mighty Gazelle approached the two more and pointed upward, “May I propose an idea?” Seppuku and Stewart both glanced at him. “Perhaps, we could align one additional racer to our pact; Antonio Guster of the Green Panther.” Steward narrowed both his brows in disapproval. “If I am correct, Guster once served as Goroh's second-in-command; but now has a lust for revenge.”

Seppuku was on board with the proposal, but Stewart gained a look of discontent, “Guster is an enemy of the Federation. For me to work beside him would be treason.”

The Man of Darkness chuckled, “Treason, just for showing lack of aggression toward another racer? Typical Federation…”

This offended the doctor, “He's not just ' _another racer_ '. He's a bandit, just like Goroh. And need I remind you that he is also an escaped convict?”

Gazelle intervened, “Edition 11.5 of the _Official Galactic Space Federation Protocol_ states that one may only be held for treason if the offender was providing direct aid to the person in question.” Stewart's head bobbed up in surprise. “The proposal I raise is that we sign off a pact of non-aggression with Guster.”

“Jody won't be happy...”

Seppuku fired out of his chair and flailed his arms amidst the air, “Jody? Jody!? Who cares!”

Disregarding the lieutenant's outburst, Stewart hummed while contemplating, then nodded in approval. “I'll support this addition to the alliance, but only if one of you ask him. I refuse to place my life on the line by approaching the criminal.”

            Seppuku volunteered with a wave, “I'll track him down on Sand Ocean. He and I think alike, therefore, I'd be the best negotiator.”

Stewart stood up, “Then, best of luck to us in the race.” He made his way toward the door, then stopped.

“Ah, Seppuku. The surviving security officers wanted me to thank you for saving them. I'm sure that goes for your female companion as well.”

Seppuku nodded as Stewart exited the room. He continued sitting alone with Mighty Gazelle, who stared at Seppuku with an intensive gaze, even though the conversation had ended. Seppuku returned a strong gaze, Gazelle didn't show any signs of stopping.

“You know what, Gazelle?” The cyborg raised his head. “I think you and I are going to be good pals from here on out.”

 

 

 

:: Years ago... ::

 

A Grand Prix race had just ended, Seppuku finished in 15th place and Captain Falcon came in 1st. The track was in Mute City, and in fact, was the first track Chiya would one day get to see. The _Red Dove_ drove out of the track behind the _Blood Hawk_ , followed by other racers. Earl had been watching the race from inside the stadium's cantina. He was slamming his hand down on a table alongside other F-Zero fans. Earl was wearing a black T-Shirt with the red words ' _Red Dove'_ on it.

“Bendek, you owe me five hundred credits!” one man gloated.

Earl tossed the wagered money down onto the table, “Fine, fine! Lesson learned: Captain Falcon always wins Mute City races.”

            With this said, Earl got up and stormed away from the table, the other three men laughed at his misfortune. “You have a lesson to learn, Bendek! Seppuku is too green, he'll never beat Captain Falcon!”

            Seppuku, at the time, was a new racer to the scene. As odd as it was, Seppuku seemed to fit in with the rest of the F-Zero racers without much experience. Many times he even matched Captain Falcon in skills, but in the end, could never take the victory home.

Earl walked down the main hallway leading to the building's exit, the souvenir stands were receiving much business with the race now concluded. The stand revolving around Captain Falcon attained the most business. Having had enough of F-Zero for one night, Earl walked past the crowd and to the exit.

Once outside he searched around for his car. Before spotting it, however, he took notice of a significant event unfolding. There were a group of fans surrounding someone. A close observation of the group revealed a tall man best known as 'Lieutenant Seppuku'.

One of the F-Zero fans facing Seppuku threatened, “You don't know what you just got yourself into, Seppuku!”

Seppuku remained still and refused to shed any fear, “Actually, it's _you_ who-”

“The mistake you made was battering up Blood Falcon's machine. That race was in the bag for him before you sabotaged his chances!”

The man laughed, “Yeah right, Blood Falcon's a joke. Captain Falcon is trash, but Blood Falcon is a clone of that trash; so in the end, I congratulate you idiots for all being fans of cloned trash.”

The four Blood Falcon fanatics all came to a mutual agreement on what to do. Without speaking, all four began to beat on the Man of Darkness, thus initiating a physical fight. Seppuku was inflicting a good deal of harm to the men, but was still finding difficulty in keeping four men off of him. Earl ran over to the group and grabbed one of the men, then threw him off of Seppuku.

“The Hell is your problem?” Earl demanded as he held the man down.

Seppuku slipped out of the other three's grasp and got back on his feet, “Come on, fight me!” he challenged.

He grabbed one by the head and beat him against the other, then dived onto the two with a strong elbow. Earl found himself in a one-on-one fight with one, both were landing punches against each other. Seppuku grabbed the third fan and slammed him into the wall of the building. This left the man's face bleeding. The fan fighting Earl looked at his bleeding friend and decided to back away from Earl.

The crazed fan commented, “F- Fine, we don't have time for the likes of you anyways!”

Seppuku nailed the man in the head with a stone. He and his companions soon ran off with bruises and cuts. Seppuku, unharmed, brushed off his coat and looked at Earl with a dull expression. Earl grinned as he watched the four fans leave his sight.

“It was no problem,” the man said with pride.

Surprising to Earl, Seppuku took offense to this self-recognition, “What, do you expect some kind of appreciation from me? I had that fight under control before you came along, in case you didn't notice...”

Even more strange came the fact that the F-Zero racer disregarded the fact that Earl was wearing a 'Red Dove' shirt. Rather than giving Earl the benefit of gratitude, Seppuku grabbed the _Red Dove_ 's key and signaled for it to autopilot toward him. Earl watched in fascination as the large red machine drove up beside the two. Seppuku entered the cockpit and prepared to depart with nothing more to say.

Before he could leave, Earl had looked at the _Red Dove_ 's rear rocket and cringed. Seppuku slowly turned his head, “Do you have a problem with my machine?” he asked in a bid to intimidate the young man.

Earl nodded and failed to be intimidated, “Yes, actually. That rocket looks like it was made before F-Zero machines even existed. It can't possibly be made for competition.” Seppuku raised an angered eyebrow and watched as Earl circled the _Red Dove_. “And I can't say this is too symmetrical. You must have a hard time taking out other racers with this being so lopsided.”

“Shut up, I didn't make the Red Dove.”

Earl got on his knees and looked under the machine, “Not only is your energy tank old, but its leaking. I can't believe this thing hasn't broken down!” Seppuku growled at Earl, offended by the series of criticism. “That leaking will probably drain your energy fast once you get to the stretched out tracks. You'll have to drive over every restoration pad in sight just to keep this thing running!”

Seppuku stomped his foot down within his machine, this startled Earl at last, “What are you implying I do, Dr. Asshat?”

Earl shrugged with a grin, “We—ell, I could use some work credit and-”

Seppuku held onto his cheek and sighed, “Yep, here we go...”

“Okay, but, hear me out. You see, I do several odd jobs pertaining to automotive engineering. Maybe I could fix some crucial things here and there, and in return, you let me list you as reference for employer?” Seppuku was still very lacking in enthusiasm with the idea, Earl took notice of this. “U- Uh, I would make sure they don't waste much of your time on the phone. I- In fact, they wouldn't even need to call you. Just write up a one page letter of recommendation and I can call it square. How about it?”       

Seppuku was not very interested in having Earl work on his machine 'temporarily', but understood that he was right about the _Red Dove_ needing crucial maintenance. “That sounds annoying. How about I just pay you instead,” he proposed. Earl still appeared interested by the offer, “How much are you thinking you'd want out of my treasure chest?”

Earl scrolled his gaze up toward the sky and moved his foot around in small circles, “Oh, I don't know. Maybe, around three thousand if I do a good job?”

“Only three thousand?”

The young mechanic gulped, “Oh, um, sure? See, I actually just arrived in Mute City not so long ago, and I'm not exactly situated anywhere desirable at the moment.”

“You're from..?”

“Busan, Korea.”

“And you now live..?”

“Mute City! Err... kind of.”

“Kind of?”

Earl lowered his eyebrows and cleared his throat somewhat in shame, “Uh, well, I kind of live in the bad part of Mute City... I'm not homeless, but, I'm not really living under good standards...”

Seppuku rubbed his chin while thinking about the original proposal, he shook negatively. He then grinned and looked back at him with a slow motion, “So, you're unemployed, then?”

“Like I said, I do random odd jobs pertaining to automotive. I went to university and studied it well back in Korea.”

Seppuku chuckled and tipped his fedora upward, “I don't have that many credits on me at the moment; but I have a proposal for you I think you'll find more than fair…” Earl remained still with a somewhat disturbed expression. “Get in the Red Dove, I wish to speak to you about an idea I have...”

 

 

 

Suddenly, Earl opened his eyes and found himself in the emergency room of the transport. He was tucked into bed. He lifted himself up and looked down at his bare chest, he now had stitches in place of his open wound. Looking down at his waist revealed something else—there was a metal cross on his bed. He widened his eyes at the cross and gritted his teeth. _Someone must have thought I was going to die…_

He got out of bed, but had a difficult time moving with the throbbing pain still present in his chest. Walking was possible, nonetheless. He found his shirt and leather jacket on a chair, the white shirt was stained with blood and ripped open. He disregarded the shirt and put only his jacket on.

_What happened? Did we win..?_

Upon exiting the room he was immediately confronted with an overly shocked looking Chiya, who had been standing idle in the hallway. She gasped at him with her jaw dropped. Earl wiped his somewhat sweaty forehead and grinned at her.

“Sorry for spooking you.” In response, a massive smile formed on Chiya's face. “I'll try and avoid getting stabbed with swords from here on out.”

“Yes! You're alive!”

She smiled and began approaching him with sparkling eyes, when suddenly, Seppuku kicked open the door behind her. Both Chiya and Earl gasped at his classic entrance.

“Flower, I have news you might-” Seppuku stopped himself upon noticing a conscious mechanic. “Excellent, then.”

Chiya slowly turned toward Seppuku and nodded, “What's the news?”

“I have signed off an alliance with Dr. Stewart and Mighty Gazelle. We're going to make sure Goroh pays for what he did.”

Chiya smiled at Seppuku, “You're damn right he's going to pay, that's for true!”

Earl grinned, understanding that Goroh must have left the ship in defeat. He then began to chuckle with closed eyes. Chiya and Seppuku turned toward him.

“What?” Seppuku demanded.

“I did something to Goroh that probably pissed him off…”

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, far away from the transport in an unknown part of space, Goroh marched down his ship angrily and ranted. “Where the Hell are my men!?”

He was searching the entire ship for his pirate crew, but none were in the area to work the command bridge. It was a ghost ship and he didn't understand how this was possible.

“This is illogical...”

He walked past the cargo bay door and growled loudly. All the pirates remained trapped behind the door that Earl magnetically sealed…


	14. Lap 14

==Lap 15=

 

“Welcome to Sand Ocean, a barren wasteland of unpredictable weather and heat. We hope you enjoy the upcoming F-Zero race and, of course, we again apologize for the inconvenience during the trip. All expenses have been lifted as compensation.”

The transport finally arrived near one of the only settlements on the planet, a small and somewhat primitive village with no infrastructure. Sand Ocean was the least popular colony planet in terms of immigration and tourists. The colony had no source of food or water and had very dangerous wildlife outside of town in the desert. The race track was the only reason one would come to the planet by choice, however, this was an ideal place for convicts—but only if they were prepared for the heat. The population of Sand Ocean was comprised of about 70% Arabs. 30% of the population belonged to the ' _Sand Oceanic_ ' group—people born on the colony of Sand Ocean. Women are not required to wear Abayas on Sand Ocean, though many choose to.

Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku stood in the cargo bay of the transport beside the _Red Dove_. The cargo bay door was opened and a large loading ramp touched the ground. Seppuku wanted to get the _Red Dove_ into storage until the day of the race for reasons of both preservation and security.

Seppuku climbed into the F-Zero machine and pointed at his companions, “I'll go ahead. You two meet me at the track as fast as you can.”

Earl nodded and crossed his arms. He was now wearing everything he normally would except for a shirt, he had zipped his coat up for the time being.

“Seppuku, wait!” Dr. Stewart yelled.

The three turned their heads and found Stewart approaching the F-Zero machine.

Seppuku leaned toward the doctor, “Yeah, what is it?”

A paper was presented to the lieutenant. “Gazelle found that Antonio Guster _is_ currently on this planet. Guster took his own ship here and landed somewhere out in the western desert.”

Chiya got a nervous look. _The western desert..?_

Seppuku sighed, “Way out there?”

He looked down at the paper and found that it contained evidence of Guster's arrival. The ex-pirate violated the Federation's 'no fly zone' law and was last spotted dropping down miles to the west. The only place he could have gone is the the Urim Canyon

Stewart had left while Seppuku continued looking over the map. Though it was only a theory, Seppuku was almost certain that Guster was hiding in the Urim Canyon. He then looked at Chiya and Earl, both of whom were shaken by the Goroh attack. Even Seppuku felt it necessary to give the two a well deserved break, but he needed their assistance one last time before doing so.

“As I said, meet me at the track as soon as you can.”

Chiya gasped and leapt onto the side of the _Red Dove_ , “Out there!? It must be over a hundred! Don't we have a hotel or something we can meet at?”

Seppuku laughed, “Hotel? This is Sand Ocean, not Las Vegas.”

The Mysterian tilted her head, “L- Las- What, is that another planet or something?”

“You're the lucky one, Flower. I have to wear all this clothing in the desert.”

Chiya pointed her finger upward, “But why do you _have_ to wear-”

Before Chiya could finish her question, Seppuku had left the ship and was now driving toward the track at the edge of town. Chiya and Earl exchanged glances and shrugged, then took a step outside together. Chiya stopped and froze in shock upon touching the sunshine. The heat was far worse than she could have imagined.

She let out a displeased moan, “There's no way we'll survive out in the desert, let alone this bloody city!”

Earl laughed and continued moving, “Seppuku isn't going to be happy if we have to wait for you.”

This caused the woman to widen her eyes and run toward him with a panicked look. She did not want Seppuku to lecture her about being useless or weak to the team. To her luck, the track was only on the other side of the city. Most buildings were only small apartments. Despite the lack of interest on the planet, there were locals walking around town wearing either a light robe or going shirtless. The planet relied on food aid from the Federation, but had little to offer in return. Sand Ocean was by far the Federation's worst colony, but there was no going back on their decision to colonize it. The primary income the planet made was from the annual Grand Prix races, but since the five tracks were randomly selected per Prix, Sand Ocean wasn't always chosen to host a race.

Chiya continued moaning as they walked further down the city, unlike Earl, who remained silent the entire trip. At this point, her moans were irritating Earl. She let out yet another loud moan, which in turn, made Earl snap.

“Yes, okay, I know it's hot! You established that five moans ago.”

A frown built onto the woman's face, “I'm sorry...”

Earl felt immediate regret for yelling, “It's alright. It's just that I hate this heat so much, and hearing you complain about it keeps reminding me of-”

A man in a robe suddenly popped up in front of the two, “You two!” Chiya and Earl turned to face the man, he had a nearly shaved head and an unrealistic smile, “Y- You two like F-Zero, don't you?” he asked with a forced smile.

“Yeah..?” Earl answered.

“I got something for you, then…” While Chiya and Earl exchanged skeptical glances, the man dug around in his pocket. He pulled out a piece of crumpled paper. “It's an F-Zero ticket that lets you into _every_ race! I'm thinking we can make a deal for, maybe... four thousand Federation credits?”

Earl looked down at the paper, it was made with a marker and had a misspelling labeled ' _fzero tiket'_.

“We're good, we already have access to all races for free.”

The man stomped his foot on the ground angrily, “Darn!” Chiya and Earl exchanged disturbed glances, then took cautious steps away from the man. “Tell your pals about my offer!” he yelled in desperation.

           

 

 

Not long after this strange encounter the two had arrived at the track. Seppuku was standing by some garage doors waiting. Chiya and Earl approached him, and as always, he appeared unimpressed or displeased.

“That took you guys a decade to get here. What'd you decide to do, go have dinner while I melt away in the heat?”

Earl scratched the back of his head, “Jeez, man. We were only gone for about fifteen minutes.”

Chiya rubbed her arm and looked at Earl with a cute smile, “Um, but that's a pleasant sounding idea Seppuku has. Maybe we could go have dinner to celebrate this upcoming race.”

Before Earl could respond, Seppuku cut through the proposal like melted butter, “It's Sand Ocean, idiot. What fine cuisine do you honestly think a desert planet is selling?”

The Mysterian frowned and dipped her head down. She was, however, more so implying that she and Earl would go eat. Either way, she knew that he was right, and she indeed felt dumb for bringing this up. To her immediate defense, Earl glared and crossed his arms.

“Hey, screw you, Seppuku. Pre-race dinner is a great idea, this just isn't the planet for it is all. What do you have against celebratory meals?”

Seppuku had no interest in the conversation, “Whatever...” He then glanced toward Urim Canyon, visible far out in the desert, “It's time to go.”

Chiya dropped her jaw and shot her arms up, “A- Already!? We're walking out in the desert, where there's no shade!?”

“The race is tomorrow, we need to hurry up and find Guster,” he answered.

The girl sighed with increasing stress. She found walking to the Upper City difficult enough, but that wouldn't compare in the slightest to what they were about to do. _Too bad I didn't stay on Earth…_

Seppuku smirked at the Mysterian, “You can see the mountains of the canyon way up ahead, it should take us about an hour or two if we leave now.”

Chiya held her forehead in awe and moaned at how far the mountains were from the city.

“Blimey, though! I'm standing in this city and sweating kittens! I can't even imagine walking through that desert!”

Both Seppuku and Earl grunted. “Sw- Sweating _kittens_?” Seppuku questioned.

“Let's just get this over with...”

Seppuku nodded, then began his journey toward the canyon. Chiya and Earl followed him close behind. It was not advised to leave the city at any time due to the dangerous wildlife, lack of water, and lack of civilization. Seppuku just needed to see if Guster was in the suspected area and try to forge him into their temporary alliance. The alliance was designed with the sole purpose of ensuring that Goroh doesn't win the Grand Prix. Guster was originally a good friend and captain for Samurai Goroh, but was betrayed and left for the Galactic Federation to arrest. Seppuku's odds of getting Guster on their side would either be very positive or very negative. This almost depended on the sole factor of how Guster was feeling about Lieutenant Seppuku's character.

 

 

           

About fifty minutes into their travel, both Earl and Seppuku were exhausted. Chiya, however, was dying—or just overreacting. She rubbed her forehead with two dead eyes and released a power groan. Neither Seppuku nor Earl knew whether she was more hot than the two or if she just liked to complain; they were going with the latter. Chiya had almost reached the point where she would run the remainder of the way so that she could find shade.

“I can't stand this heat anymore!” she finally blurted. She proceeded to shake her head wildly while rambling on about many random things.

            “Why did we bring her along?” Seppuku asked. Earl chuckled at the joke. “I'm being serious.”

Chiya jolted her head up straight and whined like a child. She was, however, more red than the three. “Once we get to these mountains, I'm going to finally rest whether you like it or not!” Chiya then continued on with her incoherent rambling.

Seppuku finally growled at her, “…just take your shirt off, then.”

Chiya glared at him and gasped, now highly offended. Earl was forced to look away from the two as he tried not to laugh at what Seppuku had just recommended. Chiya punched Seppuku's arm, but the punch had no effect on him.

“What!? You keep going on about how you're so damn hot! Just take your damn shirt off if it's such a big deal!”

Chiya flapped her arms, “I'm, a, girl!”

Seppuku shrugged, “And I'm a boy, what's your point?”

Finally, in rebellion, Chiya crossed both her arms and sat on the ground. “Hmph! Well I'm done walking.”

Seppuku and Earl both stopped and exchanged glances. Both men had different thoughts on how to resolve this issue.

“So, we're in agreement that we'll come back for her after we find Guster?”

Earl declined the proposal, “No, we can't do that...”

 

 

Minutes later, Seppuku continued walking with a calm look. Behind him came Earl, who was sweating very bad. Chiya was now being carried in his arms and had a much calmer attitude. Though, she did feel bad making her friend, who had just been stabbed, carry her across a desert.

Earl looked up at Seppuku and growled, “Ca- Can't you carry her for a few..?”

“Not a chance.”

“Why not? She hardly weighs a pound!”

Chiya beamed at Earl and giggled, “Thank you.”

The Man of Darkness came up with a weak response, “Because, if I carry her, I won't have the strength to fight off any foes.”

“Foes? What foes?”

“Don't know, maybe, like, a three hundred foot worm?”

Earl glared, “Dude, come on...”

“Hey, if we come across one of Sand Ocean's legendary three hundred foot worms, I'll take it on all by myself. How about that?”

“God damn, I hate you...”

“Do it for Flower, she's your-”

Seppuku was interrupted as the three began to feel a massive shaking in the ground. Chiya stepped down from Earl's grasp and touched the ground, intrigued by the random shaking.

“A quake?” she proposed.

Just then, a giant serpent creature leapt out of the ground and up into the air. Chiya and Earl fell to the ground both cowering in absolute fear. Seppuku remained standing as he gazed upon the giant serpent. The creature was much larger than the three and could easily swallow the three in one gulp if it desired.

Earl gritted his teeth and panicked, “Holy crap, you were right!”

The man turned his head and shook, “No, this is only two hundred feet.”

“Seppuku, get down!” Chiya pleaded.

The man chuckled, “Don't worry, these things aren't carnivores.”

The serpent then swallowed Seppuku and dug back into the ground within seconds. Chiya's pupils decreased at the sight of Seppuku being engulfed by the creature.

“Seppuku!”

“Seppuku, no!”

Chiya backed up into Earl and grabbed him, “Earl!” she yelled in search of reassurance.

Earl was stunned and unable to respond. The ground shook once again and the creature came into the air. They could assume that the creature was coming back for a second serving. Chiya grabbed her handgun and fired at the serpent, which proved to be useless, as it was too large of a beast. She gritted her teeth in fear while taking aim, then lined up her sights with its head.

“Ch- Chiya, that pistol isn't going to do the trick!”

Chiya was in deep concentration and soon launched a bullet toward the serpent's head. It collapsed onto the ground dead almost instantly. Both Chiya and Earl widened their eyes and were left jaw dropped at what had just happened. As soon as Chiya took the one shot, everything had ended. Earl looked at the pistol she was holding, wondering how she could have killed something so large with a simple handgun. Suddenly, Seppuku came walking out of the serpent's mouth completely unharmed. He had his usual dull expression as he holstered his rifle and walked toward the two.

Earl jumped to his feet, “Seppuku, you're alive!”

“As soon as it swallowed me, I found its internal organs. Killing it was a piece of cake after that.”

Chiya exhaled at the explanation then chuckled as she looked at her handgun, “Oh, that makes a lot more sense…”

           

 

           

They continued their walk and were now much more alert since the serpent attack. Chiya hadn't complained about the heat ever since. She was still very uncomfortable with the heat, but felt that complaining about it amongst all things would be inappropriate. The canyon was but minutes away.

While walking, Chiya turned toward Earl, “Sorry I had you carry me back there. That was childish of me...”

The mechanic smirked and brushed his hair back, “Well, it comes with the territory of being so handsome...”

Seppuku snickered, then held his chin to think. He then looked up to laugh, “Hey, wait a minute! I could have just drove here with the Red Dove.”

Moments of silence ensued, which Chiya spent cracking her knuckles with grinding teeth. “What..?” she hissed.

The man grinned at her, “Yeah, could have just drove here myself while you two stayed at the conditioned bar or something.” Both Chiya and Earl had looks of amazement in their eyes, they were mostly enraged by Seppuku's lack of planning. He chuckled and concluded, “That really sucks for you two.”

Chiya let out a long heavy sigh, angry that they would have to travel all the way back through the desert after finding Guster. “Seppuku, I swear to God…”

“Come to think of it, this is probably pointless. I mean, chances are I'll see Guster tomorrow before the race, so, it's a mystery why we're even doing this...”

The Mysterian glared, “It's a mystery why I'm not killing you right now...”

 

 

 

The three finally approached the canyon, but not a single sound could be heard in the area, nor could a landed ship be seen. It was probable that Seppuku's theory of Guster landing in Urim Canyon could be false, though this was the only logical place for him to hide. Seppuku began to climb a hill in hope of finding a better view of the canyon.

About three minutes later, Seppuku stood upon the hill waiting for Chiya and Earl to catch up. Earl made it to the top a bit after Seppuku, but Chiya was holding them back as she struggled to climb. Seppuku disregarded Chiya and looked down at the rock formations. Something had caught his attention for a brief moment, though he made no sound. Down below, a man in a white coat was staring at him in a gorge. The white duster coat was enough evidence for Seppuku to declare this as Antonio Guster. Now determined to approach whoever this was, Seppuku would need to get back down the hill. The figure retreated into the gorge and went out of sight.

“I Think we found him.”

The Mysterian grabbed onto the hilltop and pushed herself up with much effort. Chiya had just made it to the top and was now panting, “Oh, thank God... I'm just- I'm just so hot right now…”

Chiya gasped as she looked in front of her, Earl and Seppuku were sliding back down. She held her face and whined, then began climbing her way back down the hill, rather than slide. Seppuku and Earl now stood together looking at the gorge the figure retreated into, Chiya soon enough caught up with them and panted. Neither Chiya nor Earl knew where Seppuku was taking them at this point.

The tall man approached the gorge and looked around the corner carefully, the walls of the gorge were providing much needed shade. Seppuku was relieved to know that they could get away from the sun at long last.

“Alright, we need to be really quiet from-”

Before Seppuku could finish, Chiya leapt into the shade to finally get a break from the heat. She exhaled with a happy smile. She was still melting, but at least to a lesser extent.

“Dammit, Flower. Your little shade fetish has been really pissing me off today...”

After pulling his rifle out, Seppuku moved past Chiya and took the lead. They moved down the gorge with caution. Eventually, the gorge led them into a wide area, but still filled with shade. The three stopped with surprised faces the first moment they entered this wide area. They succeeded; the _Green Panther_ was sitting near a large tent. This was the F-Zero machine of Antonio Guster. Along with the tent and F-Zero machine, there was a medium sized ship landed in the back.

Seppuku began walking toward the large tent, “Alright, let me do the talking. This guy's a real trigger-happy buffoon.”

Chiya sighed, “ _He's_ what you call trigger-happy? Then, where do you rank yoursel-”

“Seppuku!” a man shouted.

Seppuku came to a stop after hearing this voice, then made a fake smile, “Ye—es?” he answered in a gleeful tone.

Guster stood above a cliff aiming a shotgun at Chiya, he had an angry expression on his face. Guster wore a long white duster, blue shirt, green camo pants, a blue racing helmet, and glasses similar to Samurai Goroh's. Chiya felt very threatened by Guster. _Wh- Why is he aiming at me..!?_

Seppuku took aim at the man, “Hello, Guster.”

Guster spat on the cliff and challenged the Man of Darkness, “Seppuku, I aint the criminal I used to be; but I sure as shit won't hesitate to blow your head off!”

“No doubt, but I'm not here looking for a fight.”

“Course you aint. You just wanna bring me back to your Federation buddies!”

Seppuku laughed, “I wouldn't call them 'friends'…”

Earl now looked at Chiya and also wondered why she was the one getting aimed at. Seppuku was the one with a gun trained on Guster, not Chiya. Moments later, Guster stopped aiming at Seppuku and held his shotgun down like a cane.

“Whatever, I know you aint here for friendly reasons!”

The tall man lowered his rifle as well, “Coincidentally, we are. We want you to help us ensure that Goroh's dreams of winning the Grand Prix are crushed.”

Guster grinned at the sound of the proposal, “I like it, but I intend on doing much more to him than just ruining his chances…”

“Ew...” Seppuku holstered his rifle and reached up toward the cliff, “But let's build on this common goal we have...”

 

 

Minutes later, the four were inside Guster's tent. Chiya sat with an uncomfortable feeling, there were guns hung up everywhere as if it were a collection of his. _Decorate your tent with guns? That's interesting, I suppose…_ She then looked at Guster with a troubled look.

“S- So do you like to go hunting?” asked Chiya.

Guster looked around the tent at his many guns, “Sometimes. Only when I need to eat.”

Earl asked the next question, “What's your stance on the Bloody Chain gang?”

Guster laughed at the question, “Bunch of thugs. The fact that they roam the most popular city on Earth reveals a weakness in the Federation. Michael Chain is nothing short from a terrorist.”

Seppuku was standing by the tent entrance taking a break now that he had, for the most part, gotten Guster's support. Chiya was observing Guster as he sat doing nothing. Something about Guster was striking Chiya as odd, there was something different about this man in contrast to other notable criminals.

“Aside from all of the guns, you don't seem like someone who would ride with Goroh,” she pointed out.

Guster sighed at her comment, “I would much rather become a bounty hunter or bodyguard; but the Federation wants me dead for my past crimes. I just don't feel there's a point giving up my line of work as a bandit if I'm never going to be free again…” he explained. Chiya tilted her head in awe. “If I won the Grand Prix, I would probably just use the prize money to pay off most of my past crimes.”  
            Chiya and Earl both felt a bit odd, they were speaking to a highly wanted criminal, but he didn't seem to pose much of a threat to them. However, his humble attitude may have only been because of Seppuku's agreement with him. On this note, Seppuku came walking up to the three, now somewhat eager to get back to town.

“So, you understand that we're not trying to kill Goroh on the track, right?”

Guster laughed, “You won't, but I will!”

Seppuku growled, but was in no position to debate with him. If Guster somehow did kill Goroh on the track, the fan base would be on his back—not Seppuku's.

“Fine.”

Chiya was someone who opposed violence, yet, she found herself rooting in secret for Guster's plan to kill Goroh. She wouldn't forget what Goroh did to Earl and all the security officers aboard the transport ship.

Seppuku looked up at the bandit, “Realize that after this race we are all potential enemies again…”

“As long as you're not with the Federation, you're not in my list of targets.”

Seppuku nodded before turning away, “You don't have to worry about that. I'd sooner be a janitor than crawl back to those fools…”

The dark man exited the tent, Chiya and Earl followed him out. They were gifted a short break and given water, but would now have to make the long journey back to the city. The first moment Chiya stepped outside of the tent, she closed her eyes and moaned.

“It's still hot out!” she whined.

Seppuku plugged his ears growled, then turned toward Guster, “I have a huge favor to ask from you…” Seppuku put his hands together with a panicked look. “Can you _please_ drive her back to the city!?”

Guster shrugged, “If I did that, the police would spot me.”

“Damn!”


	15. Lap 15

==Lap 16=

 

Chiya awoke in a conditioned room while Earl slept in another room, Seppuku left for the track hours ago. The Mysterian enjoyed some morning stretching with a smile and got into her boots. She then put on her beanie hat and approached the window in her room. There, she pulled open the curtains to look outside. She found another bright day on Sand Ocean. Chiya sighed at the fact she would need to watch the race in the heat. On the other hand, she became excited by another thought—she could make use of this intense heat.

Minutes later, Chiya dropped her shirt, shorts, boots, and socks off. Wiggling her fingers around with excitement, the girl opened the door and walked out onto the apartment's deck. There, she had a fine view of the city and desert. She had no bathing suit to wear for such a practice, so she went out in her underwear instead.

The Mysterian sat herself on a folding chair and exhaled in heavy pleasure. This was a new experience in her life, for Mysteria lacked clear sunlight; the Lower City was no place to sunbathe, especially with so many criminals around.

She had been moaning the previous day in discontent, now she did so in pleasure. Her eyes closed for many seconds, allowing for the sunlight to blast her. The star that Sand Ocean revolved around was much brighter than Earth's star, one of the main reasons for the intensive heat. Chiya's smile became more warm and relaxed.

“This must be what bacon feels like...”

About three minutes into sunbathing, Chiya opened her eyes and looked toward the city. She dropped her jaw and gasped. There were many pedestrians staring at the half-naked woman in amazement. Many were amazed by how pale the female was, others, were having a perverted thrill off of the sight. It was only natural, though, that Chiya scream and rub back into the building.

Sunbathing was an enjoyable experience while it lasted, but Chiya refused to act as eye candy to wandering men. Chiya, now clothed, searched inside the refrigerator wondering what kind of food it might contain. She was disappointed, for it contained nothing but beer.

“Bloody Hell…” she complained.

She searched in desperation for anything else to drink or eat, but there was nothing. The alcohol was the only consumable in the kitchen. Chiya face palmed, now realizing that she may not find anything to eat until they were back on Earth. _Who the bloody Hell did the owners expect they would rent this apartment to..?_

Earl walked into the kitchen at that moment and looked inside the refrigerator.

“Sco—ore!” He tossed a can of beer into the air and caught it with one hand, “Damn, wish I knew about this earlier. You and I could've been up partying all night.”

“I don't drink, remember?”

Earl searched the kitchen for food as well and came to the same conclusion, “Are you serious?”

Chiya nodded, “Looks like we'll have to wait until we get home.”

A sarcastic chuckle was returned, “Yeah, right. I'm just going to go find a food market or something.”

The city lacked a supermarket, but finding a place that sold food would not be the biggest challenge. Food stands were a common sight. Chiya's stomach began to grumble in revolt, and so she held her belly and looked away. She found some degree of humility in her stomach roar.

“I see...” Earl replied to her grumble. “Let's go find food, then.”

           

 

The two walked outside and Chiya once again narrowed her eyes in frustration at the heat, she moaned as they remained still. Earl glanced at her with a questioning expression. He first thought that the girl was perhaps just whiny, but now he was starting to believe there might be something medically wrong with her.

“I know it's hot out, but are you really not used to this by now?” he asked as they walked.

Chiya had a troubled look on her face, as though she were hiding something painful. She then gave him a nervous look, “On my planet, we never got any light because it's always foggy. We were always getting moist because of this.” She looked down at her waist, “As you can imagine, winter was colder there than on Earth.”

“Mysteria's an interesting planet, from what I've heard about it. It's a poor planet with a track that everyone hates, but it builds character, I bet.” He held a finger over his chin as he thought about this more, “But, then again. It is the most totalitarian planet in the galaxy.”

Chiya made a long sigh, “I don't plan on going back there. I would much prefer living homeless in the Lower City than on Mysteria…”

            Earl raised an eyebrow, wondering what could have happened to her on Mysteria that would leave her preferring the homeless life. His curiosity did not overwhelm him, though. He respected her privacy and left the topic alone, for now.

“There should be a fast food place near the business sector,” Earl said to change the subject.

           

 

 

Chiya and Earl passed through the busiest part of the city, which was crowded with people since a race would be starting not long from now. People had souvenir stands all around the market area, the Samurai Goroh stand was getting little attention.

 Up ahead of the F-Zero stands were various food stands. Chiya and Earl hadn't eaten since they left the base a little more than a day ago, so they were ready to eat anything. Earl walked up to a stand and placed his shoulder over the counter.

“What do you have?”

“Chicken legs for twenty credits.”

Earl struck his fist down in shock, “Twenty credits for a chicken leg? Are you kidding me?”

The vendor shrugged, “You won't get a better deal elsewhere.”

Earl sighed and put forty credits down on the counter. Sand Ocean was a planet neither Earl nor Chiya would plan on going back to. The man gave Earl two boxes of chicken, then looked at Chiya, who stood behind Earl with a shy face.

“You're pretty. I have a son who'd be perfect for you.”

Chiya beamed, very flattered by the comment, “Well, I'm not usually-”

“Let's go Chiya...” Earl grabbed her by the arm and forced her away, “We need to get to the track.”

The crowd standing around were not from Sand Ocean, this much as clear by their fancier clothing. As Chiya and Earl made their way through the crowd of fans, booing had erupted from behind in large quantities.

The two turned to see who was getting booed at, it was then that a loud could be heard approaching. Within moments, people dived and jumped out of the way while panicking. Chiya and Earl stepped aside, expecting something dangerous to come their way.

The _Blood Hawk_ drove through the crowd and toward the track. Everyone got away in time to avoid getting hit. Chiya caught the slightest glimpse of Blood Falcon's face as he drove by. He was grinning as he drove. Blood Falcon's abnormal usage of smirks and grins were one of the most signature things about the clone. Chiya grit her teeth in a hostile way, the evil clone had no concern for the safety of others.

The red machine continued its way toward the track. At this point in time, Chiya had no personal grudge against Blood Falcon and was concentrating on Samurai Goroh. She now viewed Goroh as a personal enemy, but had a sick feeling that Blood Falcon was destined to become an enemy as well.

           

           

 

Later on, the two arrived at the track. Just like in Casino Palace, there were personal booths for F-Zero racers and their invited guests. Chiya was disappointed to see that the booths were not closed off and conditioned. The booths did, however, have a roof which would provide shade. The two entered the booth and were surprised to find someone standing in the front; it was Seppuku, who for reasons unknown was not preparing for the race that would start in fifteen minutes.

Earl approached the Man of Darkness and warned, “Seppuku, you should be getting ready for the race.”

Seppuku looked down at the track, “I won't be getting called up to the starting line very soon, considering how bad I placed last time.”

Chiya and Earl both stood still staring at Seppuku. Though his excuse made sense, it didn't justify why he was here. Something seemed to be on his mind as he gazed at the track without emotion. Earl was beginning to feel more awkward by the day; for not only was Seppuku mysterious, but Chiya, too, was hinting that she had some kind of troubled past of her own. In the long run, both Chiya and Seppuku were mysterious people for different reasons.

Moments later, heavy footsteps could be heard approaching from behind. Chiya turned around and was sent into a state of shock at who had approached the three. Samurai Goroh came to a stop and grinned.

“Goroh!” Chiya hissed.

Earl trembled at the pirate leader who had almost taken his life a day ago. Goroh chuckled at Earl while nodding.

“So, Korean. You survived...”

Seppuku spun around, his face had been slapped by his own scarf. He then joked, “Goroh, you must be a kamikaze pilot; because showing your face around me after what you pulled is suicide.”

Goroh brushed off Seppuku's stereotype and grabbed out his katana, while Seppuku pulled out his rifle. The two entered a standoff.

The samurai scoffed, “You really think a gun will stop me? I'm a master swordsman. If you screw up your first shot, your head will be mine!”

Seppuku smirked at the threat, “Good, I haven't had a true challenge in ages...” He revealed his teeth in a sadistic way. “You're all talk, fatso…”

The two were ready to kill each other. Chiya very much wanted revenge on Goroh, but knew that this was about to become a gory mess. She trembled while looking back and forth between the two. Both were very determined to slaughter the other and took pride in doing so. Chiya had a feeling that someone was about to die, and she feared if it could even be her.

It was at that moment Earl jumped between the two with a book, “Ho—old on a second! Not so fast!” Both Goroh and Seppuku grunted. The mechanic flipped through the book and stopped somewhere in the middle, “F-Zero committee law states that violence in an F-Zero race is prohibited, excluding violence done on the track via F-Zero machines. By breaking this rule, you may be subject to immediate resolution by gunfire!”

Goroh raised an eyebrow at Earl and Seppuku growled, “Bendek, get the Hell out of the way.”

Seppuku then noticed a red glowing dot above Goroh's head. Then, Goroh appeared surprised as well. Chiya gasped upon spotting a red light on the tip of her nose. Close observations revealed multiple F-Zero committee snipers watching the two men, ready to kill anyone who dares break the rule of peace and neutrality. Chiya could tell that the red dot had gone from her nose to between her eyes.

Goroh chuckled and put his katana away, “Let's settle this on the track, like gentlemen…”

Seppuku holstered his rifle and nodded, “Wouldn't have it any other way…”

 Goroh nodded and turned way, but stopped before reaching the door. He looked back at Earl, “By the way, kid. Thanks for locking all my men up in the cargo bay. That kept me busy for the day…”

“Uh, yeah...”

After Goroh's departure, Chiya and Earl both exhaled in relief. Earl then looked at Seppuku and glared, “Be more careful! A few more seconds and we all could've paid the price!”

Seppuku crossed his arms and looked away, “Whatever, I'm going to head off now. Goroh will never see this alliance coming…”

The man exited the booth as well. This race would be easy in theory, as all the alliance would need to do is retire Goroh from the race. But Seppuku kept his wits about him, he still accepted that Goroh may present a tough challenge.

 

 

 

Minutes later, the fans gathered in the stands. The booth ahead of Chiya and Earl belonged to Michael Chain, but no one was there this time. Chiya had not complained about the heat in a while now. Considering she was in one of the coolest areas of the track, she was in no position to further complain. Chiya was sitting with Earl on the couch and watching the race from the television. The rays of the sun were too unsettling for Chiya, so Earl agreed to watch with her on the couch instead of by the booth's opening.

“The F-Zero committee would like thank all for coming to the third race of the annual Grand Prix. At this time we will introduce the racers!”

Everyone cheered on the race's beginning. Chiya and Earl were both nervous about this race, for the most part because Seppuku would be playing an aggressive game, rather than try winning. Nevertheless, both were in support of this mission.

“The Samurai Warrior and pirate leader, Samurai Goroh!”

The _Fire Stingray_ drove up to the starting line, but the man didn't bother opening his cockpit. He understood that many people were offended by his recent killing of several security officers.

“F-Zero legend and credited hitman, Pico!”

The _Wild Goose_ drove up beside the _Fire Stingray._ Pico was a green alien with similarities to a turtle. He was well known for being an excellent hitman, and of course, his history for being one of the four original F-Zero racers.

Chiya sighed, “Why must we introduce every single racer?”

“It's pretty unnecessary, but it allows the racers who ranked high the previous race to get out and do some pre-race talking with each other. The fans eat that stuff up.”

           

 

           

Later on, almost all of the racers had been introduced. Seppuku looked over at the _Green Panther_ , Seppuku and Guster nodded at each other. He then looked at the _Golden Fox_ and nodded at Stewart, he was returned a thumbs-up. Mighty Gazelle was sitting too far up ahead to acknowledge, so Seppuku presumed that he was still on board with the plan. Keeping Goroh from succeeding in this race was the critical mission that he established with the alliance. Seppuku now supported killing Goroh, but only Guster had the courage to actually try doing so. Seppuku refrained from killing Goroh out of concern for the safety of himself and his two companions. Fans could get wild and attempt to hurt the three if he were to kill Goroh. In secret, Seppuku was also focused on how he might go about winning the race for himself.

“At this time, all racers may start their engines!”

Chiya could tell that this race would be very eventful. She just hoped that the events of this race would benefit them, and not Goroh.

And so the race came to begin.

Three. Two. One. Go!

All racers drove forward, Goroh took an immediate lead. Seppuku wasted no time trying to catch up with him. Only ten seconds into the race and Seppuku had already maneuvered around many racers in a bid to catch Goroh. The _Blue Falcon_ was behind the _Fire Stingray_ , but as usual, fought an endless war with the _Blood Hawk_. Guster found himself stuck in 15 th place. Stewart found no trouble moving up the track and perfected every turn. Unlike the other allies, Stewart was trying to regroup with Seppuku, rather than go for Goroh. The general assumption was that Goroh would be easier to take on as a team. The _Red Gazelle_ drove to the side of the _Red Dove_. Both racers stuck together from this point forward.

Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon were driving side by side trying to knock each other out. The racers came to a large jump in the track where they would need to glide down to the other section of the track. The two machines made the jump and landed next to each other. The _Blue Falcon_ proceeded to pass the _Fire Stingray_ , Blood Falcon then drove to the side of the _Fire Stingray_ and rammed into it. This sent Goroh back into 3 rd. Seppuku and Gazelle continued down the track together and were sharing 6th place. Stewart soon joined the two by covering Seppuku's left flank.

One of the commentator's shook his fist and yelled, “It seems that the Red Dove has been boxed in! Will Dr. Stewart grasp the opportunity to take Lieutenant Seppuku out?”

The other commentator responded, “I don't know. It almost looks like those three are on friendly terms. They appear to be driving together by intention.”

Chiya held her chin while watching the screen. They were on the Lieutenant Seppuku channel, which had a live feed on Seppuku at all time.

“Goroh seems to be holding his position pretty well,” she pointed out.

Earl nodded, “Yeah, but once they're authorized boost power, Seppuku and his team will make their move.”

The _Blue Falcon_ continued clashing with the _Blood Hawk_ , Blood Falcon was managing to push Captain Falcon closer to the safety railing as they drove. The checkpoint was just up ahead, though. If he got there in time, he would be authorized to use boost power and escape from Blood Falcon. Captain Falcon tried to push himself to the checkpoint, but just couldn't take the risk. He hit the brakes to let the _Blood Hawk_ pass him. Goroh also passed Captain Falcon, thus leaving the hero in 3 rd. Blood Falcon laughed whilst shaking his head.

The racers now had boost power to heat up the race. Captain Falcon didn't hesitate to catch up with Goroh by boosting. Blood Falcon continued leading the race without a struggle. Seppuku, Stewart, and Gazelle boosted down the track together.

The commentator struck both fists down, “Yep, you called it! There indeed appears to be a triple alliance on the track!”

“The last time we saw this was when Samurai Goroh, Baba, and Michael Chain worked together on Mysteria,” the other announcer explained.

Captain Falcon looked back and found the three coming up on him fast. He grinned at the _Red Dove_ , who was clearly the pack leader, and shifted to the side of the track to make way. The _Blue Falcon_ was then passed by the _Green Panther_ , Guster was using much of his energy to boost up the track. Seppuku looked back and could tell that Guster would be low on energy. Seppuku opened up the line and let the _Green Panther_ in the center of the three. Seppuku then covered him from behind, ensuring that his machine doesn't get attacked.

“A quadruple alliance! A quadruple alliance!” the announcer shouted.

The co-announcer smirked, “Hey, calm down. That was right in my ear…”

Chiya and Earl exchanged a high five at the sight of all four racers working together. The question now was whether they could beat Goroh once they catch up to him. Goroh looked back in shock, the first thing he noticed was that Guster and Seppuku were working together, and even more surprising to him was that they were working with Stewart—an officer of the Federation. Goroh gritted his teeth and began to panic; he knew that this was problematic. At that moment, though, something very unusual happened. The _Blood Hawk_ slowed down to match the _Fire Stingray_ 's speed. At first Goroh prepared to fight Blood Falcon, but found that the clone only wanted to drive beside him. Blood Falcon decided to work alongside Goroh.

Everyone in the crowd was focusing on the events occurring in the front of the race, no one cared about the other twenty-some racers behind them. Chiya gasped upon sighting the _Blood Hawk_ driving alongside the _Fire Stingray_. Earl hummed at their odds for success.

Earl went on to explain his thoughts, “Blood Falcon is an exact replica of Captain Falcon—the greatest there is. Goroh is a legendary pilot of great skill. Seppuku's chewing on a lot now, even if he has a well structured team.”

Chiya never paid attention to Blood Falcon, but the words 'exact replica' made her realize just how bad of a situation Seppuku was in. Captain Falcon was the best racer around, and Blood Falcon was technically this same man.

An F-Zero committee technician had been tapped on the shoulder by an executive, who handed him a special card. “This is the race that'll bring in the cash. Make this a race to be remembered…”

The technician took the card and nodded. The card served as a last minute event maker for the sole purpose of adding drama onto the track. The technician opened up a panel on his table revealing a computer in which he put the card into.

The commentator had just been informed of the changes to occur, “Uh oh, the F-Zero committee has decided that this race could use a little more spice!”

After informing the crowd of this, several panels flipped over near the checkpoint revealing landmines. The crowd cheered at the landmines now set out on the track, this would add obstacles for the racers. This was exciting for the public, but problematic for Seppuku, who had a mission to complete.

“That's not fair!” Chiya complained.

Earl shook his head, “That's how the game works, I'm afraid. The committee realizes that this is no ordinary race, so they're going to push the envelope with this one for the sake of ratings and money.”

The four racers were gaining on Blood Falcon and Goroh, Blood Falcon chuckled at the approaching racers. The _Blue Falcon_ was now behind the four and were trying to catch the _Blood Hawk_. The battle would begin as soon as they made the jump, after which, all of the machines will have scattered upon landing. This would make for a perfect offensive opportunity.

The _Fire Stingray_ and _Blood Hawk_ glided into the air at the jump, the rest followed. All four allies broke away from each other while in the air. Seppuku overdid the jump and ended up landing in front of everyone, now in 1 st place. Stewart and Gazelle landed next to the _Fire Stingray_ and side attacked it. The _Blood Hawk_ moved toward the _Red Gazelle_ and beat its side, which sent Gazelle spinning for a moment. The _Golden Fox_ rammed the _Fire Stingray_ into the _Blood Hawk_ , sending both to the safety railing. Seppuku lined himself up with Goroh and hit the brakes, which caused the pirate to crash into him. Blood Falcon managed to squeeze through the mess and drove up to Seppuku's side, he side attacked the Man of Darkness with success.

Earl cringed and looked away after such a strong hit, “That'll keep me busy in the garage for a while…”

Chiya sat with her arms crossed, there was no easy way of telling who was winning the battle. She was left wondering why Captain Falcon wasn't helping Seppuku against Blood Falcon.

Jody Summer caught up to the group but was only focusing on the race. Blood Falcon decided to leave Goroh to fend for himself. Blood Falcon desired to take out the _White Cat_ just for the laugh. As Blood Falcon pursued Jody, Captain Falcon made the decision to boost through the mess of racers to try and stop Blood Falcon. Goroh boosted past the group of racers as well and was now fleeing from the four. He took 4th place and was trying to catch up with Captain Falcon.

One commentator pointed out, “You can tell that the Fire Stingray has taken quite a toll!”

The other responded, “Let's see what happens when the racers reach the landmines!

Blood Falcon, Captain Falcon, and Jody all maneuvered the landmines with success. The alliance was closing in on Goroh once more. A distraught Goroh was desperate for any opportunity to escape, he then looked in front of him and noticed the landmines just in time. The other four were caught off guard as well and panicked as they entered the minefield. The coalition of racers broke apart, but left little room for navigation. The _Green Panther_ drove in front of the _Red Gazelle_ and left no room to dodge the mines. The _Red Gazelle_ then hit a landmine, thus leaving a large explosion. Mighty Gazelle swirled out of control and eventually ran into the safety railing. His machine flipped over and sparked at a fast rate.

The crowd became furious, for Gazelle was one of the fan favorite racers.

Seppuku looked back at the now retired _Red Gazelle_ , “Damn!”

Chiya struck her fists down, “This isn't fair! There wasn't supposed to be mines in the first place!” Earl was intrigued by how bad Chiya wanted Goroh to lose. “This stupid F-Zero committee is going to ruin everything!”

The racers reached the checkpoint again, bringing them to the final lap. Blood Falcon hit Jody and propelled her back. Goroh and the remaining three passed the _White Cat_ , Jody regained her speed within seconds. Guster and Seppuku boosted ahead and got on both sides of Goroh's machine. Stewart got behind Goroh, leaving no room for him to retreat. The _Fire Stingray_ boosted out of the box to avoid being attacked. Guster and Seppuku were persistent and boosted after him. The _Blue Falcon_ and _Blood Hawk_ began to clash with each other once more, trying to push one another to the safety railings. Goroh soon crashed into the two racers and sent both Falcons spinning. Goroh had once again achieved the lead, Seppuku and Guster passed the Falcons in pursuit of Goroh. They made the large jump into the air; Goroh, Seppuku, and Guster all landed next to each other. Guster boosted ahead to the restoration pad so that he could regain his energy. Seppuku and Goroh clashed machines; Dr. Stewart was for the most part done, for he had fallen behind with the other twenty-some racers.

“I'm not sure if he can pull this off, Earl…” Chiya said with doubt.

Earl rubbed his hair forehead with a nervous face, “The Fire Stingray is smashed up pretty good. All they need to do is seal the deal by landing a perfect side attack. There's still a chance.”

The _Green Panther_ returned to Seppuku and tried to smashing Goroh's machine. The part that made finishing off Goroh difficult was that they all had boost power. Goroh could boost away if he was in sudden danger of being attacked.

Seppuku looked over at Guster while thinking of a way to finish Goroh off. If they didn't execute their move in a way that leaves Goroh's machine disabled, he may boost ahead and keep the lead up until the end. Seppuku decided that the best course of action would be to push him into the minefield. Fighting in a minefield would be difficult, but there wouldn't be enough room to dodge any of Seppuku's attacks. Seppuku could see the minefield up ahead; the finish line was only a bit away past this, meaning he had to finish Goroh off soon. Goroh was still gritting his teeth and panicking. The three were about to enter the minefield, when all of a sudden, the _Green Panther_ and _Fire Stingray_ clashed in a bid to push one another to their doom.

“Dammit, Guster!” Seppuku lectured.

Seppuku wanted to fight Goroh inside the minefield, but now Guster was blocking him from doing so. But as if the Heavens had finally rewarded Seppuku—both Guster and Goroh drove into the same landmine. Both racers disappeared into a massive explosion. Seppuku looked back at the explosion with a shocked expression, he did not expect this kind of outcome. He then boosted toward the finish line alone, disregarding his energy level. The _Blue Falcon_ and _Blood Hawk_ came down the track together and finished with Seppuku. The race had ended and Seppuku took 1 st place, Captain Falcon taking 2nd, Blood Falcon 3rd, Jody Summer 4th.

“Seppuku takes home the gold for the first time!” the commentator shouted.

Chiya and Earl cheered, not only did Goroh fail to complete the race, but Seppuku broke the curse of always falling short from victory. It was the perfect race.

           

 

Goroh and Guster came walking out of their wrecked machines and gazed at each other. Both of them gritted their teeth as they stood still in the middle of the wreckage—even with twenty-some machines rushing past them. Guster pulled up his shotgun and shouted, but the _Crazy Bear—_ driven by Dr. Clash—then drove into a landmine separating the two. The explosion left a screen of smoke between Guster and Goroh. Guster grunted and ran through the smoke in search of Goroh—but he had vanished. Guster stopped beside the _Fire Stingray_ and growled.

“Damn you, Samurai Goroh…”

           

 

Seppuku, minutes later, entered the booth and walked toward his companions. “There, mission accomplished…”

Stewart and Jody walked up behind him. Jody was not a part of the operation, but was Stewart's team leader. Chiya was looking at the group of racers with a smile.

“Where's Goroh?” she asked.

“He and Guster were having a standoff last I saw. We shouldn't have to worry about him winning the Grand Prix, for now.”

Chiya looked at Earl and responded, “Good.”

Jody had now gotten off her communicator and faced the group, “Red Star and the Bloody Chain just had a confrontation in the Lower City…”

Everyone in the room except for Seppuku gasped at her news, Chiya looked the most surprised by the announcement, “Blimey, how did they recover so fast?”

“No clue, but a few engagements in the Lower City erupted this afternoon.” Jody closed her eyes and growled, “We just don't have anyone willing to go down there and-”

Seppuku interrupted her, “That's a shame,” he said in a mocking tone.

Jody's opened into slits, and thus she looked at him with an angry face, “Just do it…”

Seppuku got closer to her with a grin, “What? Do what? I was instructed not to interfere with the gang war, otherwise, I'll be arrested…”

Jody was pestered by Seppuku yet again, he knew what she was implying but wanted to hear it from her mouth. “Okay, fine. You have immoral methods of working that we do not have. Please, feel free to deal with this yourself—if you wish…” she said cringing at her decision.

Seppuku chuckled, “Well, well, well. Look who finally came crawling back-”

“Just shut up and do it!”

 

           

           

Hours later, Goroh was drinking tea inside of his ship, he was with his new appointed pirate captain, going by the name ' _Fortuna'_. They were sitting around a short table as Goroh enjoyed his drink.

“So, you think the Federation set that alliance up?” Fortuna asked.

Goroh took a sip from his tea and set it back down, “Of course not. This was all Lieutenant Seppuku's doing.”

Fortuna  raised an eyebrow, “Seppuku has a grudge against you?”

“Of course he doesn't, he's never had a grudge against me before…”

“Then, why would he be the one starting this alliance?”

Goroh looked up at him, “Seppuku and I have met before and never saw eye-to-eye. But I know he never cared about my job as a pirate leader.” Fortuna continued to stare at him, expecting a more clear answer. “It wasn't my attempt at killing his mechanic that triggered the alliance, it was the girl...” he answered.

“The girl?”

Goroh sipped his tea again and set it back down, “In a way, the girl was the one who started this alliance—not Seppuku.” Fortuna was somewhat surprised by his comment. “Seppuku has finally revealed a weak spot, his sympathy for that girl. She was the one who appeared most hurt by me striking the mechanic, meaning, she's closer to him than Seppuku is.” Goroh stood up and thought back to the moment where he was holding Earl. “Seppuku felt sympathy for the girl who was in pain, so he wanted to get vengeance for her,” he sat back down and shrugged. “That's all there is to it.”

“So, do you plan on getting revenge?”

The pirate leader gave a heavy nod, “Yep, but this time I have a new target...” he looked up at Fortuna and cracked a big smirk. “The girl...”


	16. Lap 16

==Lap 17=

 

The trip back to Earth went as planned, the transport had not run into any problems the entire way. As soon as the transport returned to Mute City, Seppuku drove the war damaged _Red Dove_ back to base, leaving Chiya and Earl to the car they left at the starport. Neither of the two planned on doing anything in the Upper City, as both insisted on going straight home. Chiya was exhausted from the past days that put her against pirates, had her travel through a desert, fight a giant serpent, confront Goroh again, and then learn that the gangs resumed fighting. Seppuku had gotten permission from Jody to resume working against both gangs, however, the three spent the first day at home doing nothing, for Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku alike needed a break.

It was past midnight, and for once, the base was not silent. Loud Japanese pop music echoed throughout the entire base, Earl was trying to sleep but struggled to do so. The music was not coming to an end. Earl grabbed his pillow in frustration and curled it around his head in an attempt to drum out the sound.

Meanwhile, Seppuku was looking at a map of the Lower City on his computer, he was looking to find various ways to ambush the Red Star HQ and kill Brock Blaskovitz. The music could be heard from within his office as well. Seppuku held his forehead roughly with a pulsating right temple of anger. He found this music distracting, loud, and irritating. He was trying to concentrate, but was not accustomed to there being any sounds in the base—let alone music.

The man slammed a paper down in front of him and began writing information about the buildings surrounding the Red Star HQ. His hand trembled while writing, he moved the pen across his paper with great force. The force he was putting on the pen was almost ripping the paper, he couldn't stand this music. Then, somehow, he snapped the pen in half by complete accident, as he had been pushing his thumb against it too hard.

            “Dammit!”

            Seppuku swiped his rifle into his grasp and charged toward the door with boiling blood in his veins.

            Chiya was laying on her belly kicking her legs back and forth. She was sketching pictures inside of a blank book she found. The loud music was coming from a music player she bought days ago while in the Upper City, though she didn't realize that Earl and Seppuku were bothered so much by the music. She continued drawing with a smile.

At that moment, Seppuku kicked open her door and held his rifle up. Chiya's eyes widened in utter shock, she ducked under her blanket as Seppuku took immediate fire toward her. She was trembling under her blanket, wondering if Seppuku had a random change of heart and wanted her dead. She soon raised her head up and opened one eye—he had destroyed the music player.

Seppuku holstered his rifle and turned back toward the door, Chiya launched up onto her knees and panicked, “Are you insane!?”

“Good night.”

Chiya remained on her knees with a dropped jaw—stunned. She looked back at her music player, which had been demolished by his powerful rifle. Moments later, Earl kicked open her door as well. The woman shrieked and jolted up.

Earl waved a handgun up with two wide eyes, “What's going on!?” Chiya was, again, cowering in fear. Earl noticed the destroyed music player. He calmed down and lowered his weapon, “Ah, I see. Alright then, good night.”

A distraught Chiya remained on her bed, traumatized by what had just happened. She tilted her head and released a heavy exhale.

 

           

            The following day, Chiya decided to try out the shooting range once more. A recurring thought she had was whether or not she would be granted a new weapon. Seppuku carried his large anti-material rifle, yet, she was only given a handgun. Earl only had a weapon with him on occasion, and he seemed to always use a similar gun to what she has. Chiya didn't need a better weapon, but she would appreciate having a little more firepower available for the situations where she's cornered.

Chiya stomped on a trigger, several human-like targets then sprung up in front of her. She pulled out her handgun and fired a few times, but soon stopped after noticing something surprising she had done. The way she took out her gun was very stylish. She holstered the gun again and then threw it up into the air, she caught it in a stylish way. She repeated this over and over again, discovering different stylish ways of taking out her gun.

Minutes later, she found herself trying to throw the gun into the air spinning and to then catch it—she had little luck doing this, but was determined to master this. She held the gun with her tongue out and concentrated on how she could do this. She lowered her eyebrows and held the handle with two fingers, preparing to throw it up into the air once more.

“That's a good way to shoot yourself,” Seppuku spoke from behind.

Chiya jumped in fright and held the gun with both hands. “Sorry, I thought it would be cool if I could draw my gun out in a cool way.”

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her, “'Cool'? Yeah, flourishing your gun will be helpful when you have five Red Star goons about to pummel you.”

The woman rolled her eyes and brushed off Seppuku's comment, “And you're here for..?”

“Well, I was ecstatic when I heard you were practicing down here, but now I realize you were just playing around.”

 _God, he's just like my dad…_ Chiya resumed firing at the targets. Seppuku remained still watching her fire, still not very pleased with her accuracy. She was shooting much better than before, nevertheless. This time, Chiya had not missed any of the targets, but still failed to land any shots in the vital areas.

“Bendek's equipping your machine with the reactor we found.”

Chiya gasped and and holstered her weapon, “Really!? I'm going to go help-”

Seppuku intercepted her by grabbing both her shoulders, “No, keep shooting. He's fine on his own.”

She remained still once let go of, but was somewhat disappointed. “Oh, okay...”

This time she pulled her handgun out in a regular way and continued shooting at the targets. Seppuku's presence behind her made this all the more uncomfortable. Chiya had yet to miss any of her targets, but was not making very precise hits either. Seppuku was seeing no progression and no optimism in the woman, the mood for shooting was killed. He walked up the stairs and pointed down at her.

“Come to my office, there's more productive things to be done.”

Chiya turned around and put away her weapon, then went out the door with him. The simple truth was that Chiya didn't need her gun very often, the pirate attack was the first time she had used it in a firefight. Other times were against defenseless foes, thus making it hard to label as 'fights'. She would have continued shooting, but Seppuku filled her head with excitement over the reactor. As soon as the reactor would be installed, her F-Zero machine would be capable of being driven. The booster and combat module were not mandatory parts to be installed—only necessary if she wished to compete in races. If the reactor could be put in with success, her machine would, technically, be ready.

Moments later, Seppuku sat in his chair while Chiya stood in front of his desk. The man pulled up a map on the screen attached to his wall. He zoomed in on a specific street she was unfamiliar with.

He proceeded to explain, “I've often noticed that both Red Star and the Bloody Chain are stopping at this alley. I'm led to believe there's something of interest for both sides here.”

Chiya noticed that the alley was not displayed in full on the map, only the entrance to it could be seen, “Is there a roof above that alley, or could the mapmaker not get in there?”

“All I know is that gang vehicles stop there on an almost routine basis, and I want to know what's there.” Chiya rubbed her chin, trying to guess what was in the alley that would bring both gangs together. “I should mention that this is also the street where most firefights between gangs occur.”

_So, it's not a place for negotiations…_

“Enough contemplation, though. Here's where you come in…”

Chiya grunted, “You mean, ' _we'_?”

“Nah, I think you should do this one alone.” Chiya glared in objection, Seppuku crossed his arms at her, “I want you to enter the alley, see what's there, then come right back. Simple enough?”

 _Except for the fact that gangsters roam the streets…_ she added in her mind.

Chiya narrowed her eyes in suspicion, “You just want me to get captured by the Bloody Chain so we can find their base.” Chiya pulled open her shorts and looked down to see if he had put the _Red Dove_ 's keys in her shorts again.

Seppuku laughed at her, “I like the way you think, however I already know the location of their base.”

Chiya blew her bangs up in relief, “I see…” Still, this didn't answer one question. “Why me? Alone?”

“I have my reasons. The point is, all you need to do is scout out what's in the alley. It's not like I'm asking for much. Just tell me what you find, but definitely bring a gun.” Chiya was skeptical of this mission and had an urge to decline. Seppuku tossed her a round metal device, which she began to examine, “If you get in a bad situation, just click the device. It'll alert me and inform me where to find you.”

Chiya gasped  at the device, “You couldn't have given me this when I first arrived here!?”

“We needn't dwindle on the past.” He smirked, “Instead, let's focus on the present and future.”

“Alright fine, but won't it look odd if I walk into the alley and find, like, twenty muscular gangsters there?”

Seppuku pointed at her holster, “You have a gun.”

“Is that your resolution for everything?”

“Most things, yes.”

 

 

           

Chiya later walked down the streets of the Lower City with the task of scouting out the alley in question. Chiya planned on going to the Falcon House after the mission depending on the time. Despite how very much Chiya wanted to help Earl with her future machine, she understood that her presence would be a distraction, not to mention, she knew little about automotive engineering.

 _I wonder how life will treat me when I have an F-Zero machine..._ Something that concerned Chiya was that Seppuku still for reasons unknown condemned the idea of her joining the Grand Prix. When she first joined his organization, he lectured her about joining the Grand Prix. This could have been for many reasons; whether it be that Seppuku feared she could beat him in the Grand Prix, or perhaps he was concerned for her safety. Either way, though he disapproved of her becoming a racer; he was willing to help her become a good racer.

The Mysterian came around the corner of a building and looked down the long street Seppuku claimed to be a common battleground. No gangsters were in sight, but she couldn't see the alley from her angle. With a nervous face, she proceeded down the sidewalk with scanning eyes. From what she understood, the alley was much thinner than others. The more she walked, the more concerned she became. There were countless craters on the street and the sidewalk was cracked into pieces. Chiya found herself putting her hand over the device Seppuku gave her, but was resisting the urge to press it. She had to press the device in situations she couldn't escape from; calling Seppuku when he wasn't needed would be a superb way of enraging the man.

Her train of thought was interrupted as many sounds had suddenly come from behind. The woman's eyes grew much larger and began to quiver. The sounds were approaching from the rear, and she could tell that these were automobiles of some sort. With her handgun ready, Chiya began walking backwards in preparation for what was coming from the rear. It was moments later that several machines belonging to the Bloody Chain came driving down the street. Chiya gritted her teeth in fear. It would seem that the fight of her life was coming toward her. She would need to fight off several gangsters on her own, assuming she doesn't become roadkill. Chiya was then shocked to find another random occurrence.

Several members of Red Star appeared on the rooftops holding rifles and rockets. Within moments, Chiya found herself trapped between bullets and propelled rockets—none of which were directed toward her. Bullets and rockets rained down upon the Blood Chain machines, many were wiped out and sent spinning into buildings. Surviving Bloody Chain gangsters got out of their machines with assault rifles and returned fire. Chiya had dropped to the ground in cowering fear, a firefight had emerged and the Mysterian only now began to grasp just how common these conflicts must be. It was to her immense luck that neither of the gangs had spotted Chiya, so she continued down the street with her head ducked. The Bloody Chain were now using their destroyed machines as cover during their firefight with Red Star.

Though her head was ducked down, Chiya spotted a slit between two buildings, she was confident that this was the alley in question. Without thinking, she charged across the street and went toward the alley. As the fight raged on, Chiya took cover by the wall of a building to escape Red Star's field of view. With a weary look, she ran into the alley. In her mind, anywhere had to be safer than on this street. She now had to fear whether or not she'd run into trouble in the alley.

She made it to the alley and was now safe, but nevertheless, getting home would be problematic considering the many gangsters in the area. She gritted her teeth in frustration and took her new emergency device into hand with a desire to call Seppuku. For reasons she couldn't explain, she hesitated with her decision to call him. One issue was that she might be calling Seppuku into a situation he can't handle. The other issue was that Seppuku would be proud of her for getting through the mission without him.

Following an exhale, Chiya put the device away. She needn't bother Seppuku with her situation; this wasn't a smart conclusion to reach, but Chiya's rational thinking was eaten by her own pride. She continued down the alley and turned every few seconds to ensure that she was not being followed. The alley led to a metal door. She checked behind her again, then looked at the door. The big fear Chiya had was whether she would be met with immediate gunfire or capture. The mission sounded easy in theory, but the actuality of the situation is that she could have really used Seppuku's help.

 _He only told me to get a glimpse of what this is…_ This reminder brought comfort, and so she opened the door very slowly. It was to her surprise that music could be heard the first moment she opened the door. She opened the door all the way and could smell sawdust; the music playing was casual and relaxing. The woman took slow steps inside with her gun held up. Chiya walked into the center of the structure and quirked her mouth. There were isles, shelves, and a counter with bulletproof glass.

“A store?”

A man then shouted, “You!”

Chiya responded by aiming her gun at the approaching man, after realizing who it was, she cocked the gun and glared. Brock Blaskovitz approached her from an isle. He responded to her aggression by holding up an assault rifle. Just as Chiya prepared to pull the trigger, many automated machine gun turrets aimed at the two. Both enemies looked at the turrets in shock, as both found heavy caliber guns trained on them.

Brock gave Chiya a hostile gaze and vice versa. The store owner revealed himself behind the counter during the standoff.

“Choose your next card with heavy thought,” said the owner.

Chiya turned her attention toward the counter, she hadn't seen him when walking in. The man had his finger on some kind of controller connected to every turret in the room. As it would appear, both she and Brock were equal targets in the owner's eyes.

“Violence is prohibited in here.”

Brock chuckled and lowered his assault rifle. Chiya soon holstered her pistol and looked into Brock's eyes.

Brock closed his eyes and grinned, “Girl...”

“Brock Blackwater…” Chiya responded hostilely.

“Blaskovitz,” he corrected.

Chiya pointed back toward the entrance, “I think your men are fighting the Bloody Chain out there,” she said with a calm tone.

“Both of us fight for control of the Black Market sector.”

A very gentle shock had been installed. She released a silent gasp and examined her surroundings. Drugs, weapons, beer, and banned goods such as Black Shadow souvenirs. The alley led to a secret black market where the gangs got their powerful equipment from. This explained why Red Star and the Bloody Chain fight with similar weaponry.

Brock placed his large hand over Chiya, startling her with ease, “I am still leaving a position open in Red Star, if you wish to join.”

Chiya swatted his hand away, “Even after I sabotaged your bikes?”

“I underestimated you at first. I now realize that you would make an excellent addition to the gang.” Chiya mocked his proposal with a laugh. Brock continued, “Legitimate entrance into our gang has its perks. We can get you muscles, money, an F-Zero machine, and all the men you require.”

The offer was interesting, but nowhere close to enlisting Chiya's interest—at least not now, given her loyalty to Earl and Seppuku.

“There is no swaying me away from Seppuku and Earl. They are my friends and you can't persuade me to think otherwise.”

Brock grunted with anger, “Fine, remain with Seppuku and die, then.” Brock approached the door and looked back, “You may have gotten a good start on dismantling my union, but the Red Tide of Doom is upon both you and the Bloody Chain…”

The gang leader left, thus leaving Chiya to her investigation. She proceeded to observe all shelves and isles. In her search, she found assault rifles, rocket launchers, antique pistols, and other unique weapons. One stylish weapon enlisted her interest. She picked the pistol off the shelf and examined the thin barrel.

“That's a replica P08 Luger. An ancient weapon used by a nation of great power back when Earth was divided into countries,” the owner explained.

Chiya looked at him from the corner of her eyes, but didn't actually turn her head. She placed this pistol back on the shelf and pulled out another, “What about this one?”

“That's a K11 OakBreech. Made shortly after the continents of North and South America merged into one union. It was used by American police forces.”

“You seem to know a lot about guns...”

The owner raised an eyebrow, “You don't look like a criminal…” He now held up the turret controller behind his back, prepared to kill her if needed. “I don't suppose you're friends with the Federation, are you?”

Chiya looked at him, unaware of the fact that she was seconds from death. “The Federation? I don't much care for them.”

The owner put his finger off the button, for Chiya had given the correct response. After observing many more weapons, Chiya approached a large glass container containing multiple items with price tags.

“What are these?”

The owner walked beside her, “These are weapon attachments.”

Chiya nodded and looked down at her handgun. She still had money, but not much. Though she was only supposed to scout this place out for Seppuku, the realization hit her that she could make use of this illegal shop by upgrading her weapon. She pulled up her handgun and handed it to the owner.

“Anything that might fit this?” asked Chiya.

“Nice gun! I'm selling this very same model. You'll be happy to know that this was designed to fit most weapon attachments.”

Before picking out an attachment, Chiya turned with a raised brow, “Is this gun rare?”

“Well, only police officers own these. And it's not every day someone nabs a gun off an officer.”

“I can imagine.”

She revealed a slight smile and looked at all of the weapon attachments. She saw many things for a pistol, such as a silencer, flashlight, mini-grenade launcher, and other useful items. The owner tossed her a small yellow attachment that had a lightning bolt emblem on the side. She caught it and gave him a questionable look.

“Perhaps you'd be interested in this?”

Chiya examined the attachment, it took her a few moments to realize that this was a taser. She held her chin while thinking about the offer. _This could come in handy…_

“This can attach to my handgun?”

The owner nodded affirmatively and put the taser on for her. The attachment slipped under the barrel of her gun. “Any ordinary charger will power it back up.”

Chiya grinned as she imagined all of the situations she could now get out of without killing her enemy. “How much?”

“I'm thinking maybe five hundred credits?”

Chiya's eyes widened, she had a lot of money on her but didn't want to use so much of it on one attachment, “Um—m, how about four hundred…”

He tapped his chin, “Four-fifty?”

Before making a counter-offer, Chiya had looked back at the many attachments and puckered her lips at a specific piece. “How about three hundred for this, and I'll pay whatever _that_ item costs full price.”

The owner looked up at the item in question, then nodded in agreement, “I Won't pass down that offer…”

 

 

 

           

Later that day, Chiya returned home without trouble. By the time she finalized the deal with the merchant, all of the gangsters had dispersed from the area. Chiya decided against going to the Upper City today, as she had been eager to return to Seppuku with her full report. She had little money left after her expensive purchases. The more she thought about it, however, the more she felt somewhat like an idiot. Without thinking, she went spending money on illegal items as if she had some kind of special privilege. She wouldn't get in trouble with Seppuku for doing this, but she may receive a lecture.

“What did you find?” Seppuku demanded.

Chiya was standing before his desk with a bag, “Well, first, I got caught up between a gang fight. But I made it to the alley and back unharmed.” Earl was standing beside Seppuku's desk listening to her story. “I then learned that the alley contained a special market selling illegal items—a black market.”

Seppuku nodded, “A black market. I should have known…”

“I was approached by Brock Blaskovitz. He-”

“You killed him?”

Chiya dipped her head down and sighed, “Before we could kill each other, we were halted by turret defenses, forcing us to stop. The black market had some kind of neutrality rule, which is why both Red Star and the Bloody Chain come out of there without killing each other.”

The Man of Darkness beat his fists together, “Of course! Make money off of a gang war by arming both sides. It's brilliant…”

Chiya pulled out her handgun with the taser now attached to it. Seppuku raised an eyebrow, having noticed the yellow attachment. “You modified it?”

“I purchased a taser attachment from him.”

Seppuku clenched his fist and growled, “That was a very foolish-” He stopped himself and grasped his chin. “Well, actually, that was good. Take from the market before it's shut down. I like it.”

Chiya placed the bag on his desk, “I also purchased this for your rifle. It was very expensive, so I hope you use it.”

Both Earl and Seppuku were intrigued. The tall man grabbed his signature anti-material rifle and reached inside the bag. He pulled out a long metal barrel and examined it, “This thing's long. What is it?”

The Mysterian bowed, “A silencer designed for any kind of military grade sniper. The barrel is long and heavy, but covers the loud bang your rifle makes. The special part being that it doesn't affect the weapon's overall accuracy.”

            Seppuku grinned while screwing the long silencer onto his rifle, then stood up and threw his rifle into his hands. Both Chiya and Earl ducked in fright as he took a shot at a plant in the room. The sound of his weapon was still loud, but would have been impossible to hear from any other part of the base. The plant's jar broke into pieces.

“Perfect.” Chiya was pleased to find Seppuku content with the gift, “This is a much better gift than that pink rabbit you hung up in the Red Dove.” All of a sudden, Chiya had been thrown two more wallets, “Here, you've done well these past days. So here's your pay.”

Chiya looked inside the wallets, they belonged to some of the pirates they had killed. This time, Chiya felt no guilt in accepting the wallets, for Goroh and his crew had stabbed Earl and killed many innocent officers.

Earl narrowed his eyebrow and complained, “Why don't I get paid that much?”

“Because while she's saving officers, killing pirates, and uncovering underground markets; you're getting stabbed by pirate leaders.”

“Okay, but I also disabled the weapons on Goroh's ship, locked his men up, and literally fix your F-Zero machine every time you do anything with it!”

“Be happy I'm giving you anything. Go give Flower a foot rub and see if she'll buy you out.”

Earl flailed his arms up, “Sh- Shut up, man! I'm not complaining about how much she makes, I'm complaining about how little _I_ make.”

“Oh, boo hoo. Cry me a river, Korean boy.” Chiya looked back and forth between the two as they continued to bicker about wages. She shrugged and left his office, ready to enter her room and do other things.


	17. Lap 17

==Lap 18=

 

It was later that night Chiya found herself doing Seppuku proud—something she didn't specialize in. Her near run in with the gangs convinced her that more training was needed if she is to become a more competent member of the team. Not only this, but she had to know how to defend herself when in severe danger. Since she wasn't a strong woman, defense could only come in the form of firearms.

Down in the shooting range, the Mysterian stomped on the trigger and issued targets up. As she had been instructed to do, she equipped her handgun the regular way and took steady aim with both hands. She blasted away at each of the six targets in quick bursts, great spirit, and using the best of her ability. But trying hard enough just wasn't enough. After exhausting this clip of ammo, Chiya dipped her head down and sighed. Of all six targets and all fifteen shots fired—she managed to land one bullet through the neck. Everything else either missed or hit the torso and crotch areas.

This was almost too morale breaking for Chiya to continue. She was humiliated knowing that bullet holes could now be located on the crotch and torsos of so many targets. A professional shooter such as Seppuku would find this cute and hilarious, and given his character, mock her for this. Fear of humiliation drove her to thoughts of giving up, but she couldn't. She loaded her magazine back to full and raised her gun again. She lined her thumb up with the intended target and used this as a reticle.

Then, before she could shoot, Seppuku had stepped up from behind to spook her yet again, “You'll never hit anything that way.” Chiya gritted her teeth and almost fell over in surprise. “And with clumsiness like that, you'll have your own reality TV show in no time.”

The Mysterian stood tall and returned to the original criticism, “Bugger, what's wrong with the way I shoot?”

“You're not even using the front sight of your gun. It's there for a reason, you know.”

Chiya blinked with a clueless face, then looked at the front of the gun. There was a small metal piece raising up from the barrel of the gun to help her aim. However, she still failed to understand. The woman raised an eyebrow and pressed her finger down against the metal piece, believing it to be a button. To this, Seppuku laughed; her lack of knowledge was annoying, but the fact she thought this was a button forced him to laugh.

“Alright, I've never worked with a gun virgin before.”

Again, she blinked in confusion, “Oh, no. I'm saving myself for marriage, you see...”

He face palmed, “Line that part up with your eye, Flower!”

The woman remained still and silent for a few moments. She explored the gun and tried many things with her eyes, but ultimately blushed in embarrassment. With escalating impatience, Seppuku grabbed her hands and forced the gun up to her face. She opened her mouth and widened her eyes.

“O—oh, I see!”

“Thank goodness...”

And so Chiya proceeded to shoot targets with much better accuracy. She was still missing many targets and landing most shots in the torso areas, but her hit/miss ratio was improving. Though Seppuku expected nothing but perfection, even he understood that one as inept to firearms as Chiya couldn't master this art within mere minutes. She was still doing terrible, but improving. This was all he could ask of her, for now.

Chiya was still embarrassed to miss so many shots, but accepted that this was a learning experience. If lectured, she was prepared to use the 'I'm learning' excuse. Beyond her knowledge, Seppuku soon found himself nodding in approval at her performance. Terrible, but much improvement after just mere seconds. Despite at long last getting her head centered on shooting, he decided to raise a new conversation. One night he had this conversation with Earl, now he was going to with Chiya.

“So, you say that you're saving yourself for a husband?”

The Mysterian widened her eyes and nodded in a nervous way, “Uh, I prefer not to talk about my sex life. But, to answer your question, yes.”

“Interesting. Most women I've met are loose cannons with their bodies.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and nodded, “Did I mention I don't like talking about sex?” Seppuku raised an eyebrow. “I've never done it before, I want to wait for that special guy. No one else is deserving of my body.”

Seppuku respected her desire to censor her mouth of sexual talk. Though he himself had a dirty mouth, he could admire Chiya's more clean attitude. Be as it may, he wasn't done with the conversation. His next question would leave Chiya very tense.

“Bendek. Do you like him? Or..?”

The girl dipped her head down and shot her gun off at a faster pace, “Who, Earl? Like him? Yeah, I like him. Great guy, great friend. I'd drink a cup of coffee with the guy,” she panicked.

This response surprised Seppuku. He had asked Earl a very similar question and received somewhat of a similar response—but this response was much more hyper and frantic. Nervousness played a role in her response for sure, he just didn't know whether or not it was denied emotions.

“Might he be the guy you're thinking of giving yourself to?”

Chiya's eyes widened and two very rosy cheeks formed. She began to tremble somewhat at the sheer thought of this being a reality. Much had changed in her life since arriving at the base, and much was still occurring that didn't pertain to her own interests. Now when confronted about any personal romantic interests, she was throwing a blank. Part of her wanted to admit that, perhaps, she was sharing more than a friendship with Earl; the other part rejected this.

After shooting one last time, Chiya let out a very girlish grunt and shrugged, “I- I mean...” She lowered her eyebrows, “I don't know why that would concern you. For all you know, I might hold feelings for someone outside of this base...”

Now Seppuku was prepared to be cruel for no just reason, “So, you'd be happy if Earl fell in love with someone and got engaged?”

Chiya cringed at this thought, but again, half rejected her feelings. “I- I guess I would...” She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, “I think Earl's a very handsome man, but in that circumstance-” She kept herself from finishing the sentence.

There was no answer in her mind, or at least not one she wanted to admit. Her end result was to throw a miniature tantrum and march up the stairs. Seppuku watched in awe, feeling as though he won—only to realize that he wasn't fighting her. For some reason, he found humor in the woman's struggle. Before going out the door, she clenched her fists and looked back down at him.

“You have no right to interrogate me on my interests! I have the right to love whoever I want to love. You can't tell me who I can and can't love!”

Seppuku grunted, “Wha- Wha- What are you even talking about!? I just asked you a damn question about Bendek!”

The Mysterian jolted upward with wide eyes, “Y- Yes! B- But...” She bit her lip looking like a fool, then snapped her fingers. “I am an independent woman and I don't have to take this!”

She left the shooting range in a fury, leaving Seppuku with nothing but questions. The Man of Darkness tilted his head and shook in disbelief.

“Wow. She must be a riot to be around _that_ time of the month...”

 

 

 

No doubt, this was a brief awkward moment between Chiya and Seppuku. He failed to understand what he did wrong, but the answer was obvious to the Mysterian. He delved too far into her interests to the point of offending her. Nevertheless, Chiya cooled off and even returned to her gleeful self. Little did the Man of Darkness know, he was the first person Chiya desired to see on this new day.

Seppuku was in his office packing objects into a small bag. As usual, Earl was in the garage working on F-Zero; he unfortunately hadn't been working on her F-Zero machine the other day as Seppuku claimed, rather, he had been working on the _Red Dove_. After a race as explosive as Sand Ocean, Seppuku's machine needed attention.

The tall man looked in his desk for a rope to tie the bag with, but instead chose to staple the bag shut. Chiya then ran into the office with a gleeful face.

“Seppuku, Seppuku!” He looked up at her in shock, ready for action; but then spotted her happy look. This indicated to him that she had nothing important to say. “Earl was in the Upper City and saw on the news that the F-Zero committee is looking to use fan submitted racer introductions for this next race. That means you'll get something other than the usual, 'he is dark and mysterious' kind of intro.”

Seppuku rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous face, “Uh, and..?”

As he feared, Chiya pulled out a piece of paper she had written on, “Here's what I thought…” Seppuku shook his head, he knew Chiya would have tried making an introduction for him. She cleared her throat and proceeded to read, “The man of kindness and friendship, always there to lend a helping hand to others, Lieutenant Seppuku!”

Seppuku's eyebrow twitched a few times, “Are you seeking an early grave?”

Chiya widened her eyes, “Wh- What do you mean?”

“Do _not_ send that to the F-Zero committee!”

            The size of her eyes intensified, she then began to tremble, “U—uh…” She looked away while rubbing her forehead, “I kind of already-”

“Anyways, we're ready to do some major damage to both gangs in one big blast.” He placed the bag down on his desk in a very gentle way.

Chiya smiled with her teeth showing “We're going to blow up their base?”

Seppuku clapped his hands, “Superb thinking, Flower.” He then sighed and shrugged, “But, _unfortunately_ , Jody—the Federation bat—would be all over me if I did that.”

Chiya's attention now came down onto the bag, Seppuku then placed a lighter next to it.

“And what's in the bag?”

The man tapped his finger down with a stern face, “Today, we're going to throw this bag of explosives into the black market. If what you've told me is true, the explosion should detonate other explosive material down there and send the place up in flames.” Chiya's eyes widened in shock at the plan, she already had an initial objection to this plan, but listened on. “With the black market destroyed, Chain and Blaskovitz will lose their main provider of weaponry and ammo. This will lead to the decline of both gangs and enable us the perfect moment to end this pitiful gang dispute.”

Chiya nodded with a concerned expression, “Do we have to kill the merchant?” Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her question in anger, not surprised that Chiya had sympathy for the store owner, “He seemed like a nice person...”

“He may seem like a nice person in your eyes, but he supplied criminals; thus making him a criminal. That means, he needs to pay…”

Chiya gritted her teeth, “He's a nice man...”

“But a supplier of our enemy, and thus a combatant who will die.” The Mysterian became angrier with this argument. “I don't care what _you_ think about him. I'm blowing this place up myself, and I needn't waste my energy saving some scrap licking arms dealer. Deal with it...”

Both adults exchanged fierce gazes. Chiya was defending common morality, while Seppuku took the less insightful approach. While this arms dealer was deserving of prison, Chiya couldn't advocate killing him. Unlike other times, Seppuku displayed no affection for her side of the deal. He was going to blow this market up and leave without remorse. Chiya had only one response to make under such a situation.

“I'm going to take a shower, now…”

Seppuku chuckled as the woman ran out the room. He was under the presumption that Chiya had seen things in his light, but quite the contrary. She was going to take a shower—a shower of justice.

 

 

 

Chiya was at long last advocating for her beliefs as a servant for prosperity. Against Seppuku's plan, the Mysterian rifled her way down the sidewalks of the Lower City. The Man of Darkness was preparing for his short mission to the black market, this gave her a margin of time to act and save the arms dealer. She was ready to shoot through any gangster she may encounter along the way. Chiya had an angry look on her face as she ran. It was very fortunate and ironic that she had been doing late night gun practice, for she now understood more about shooting—something she may need to know for the coming minutes. There was little Chiya would be able to do except try and convince the man to leave the black market. If she were to tell him of Seppuku's plan, he may instead choose to try fighting Seppuku with his diverse amount of weaponry. She would need to fabricate a story.

The woman turned around the corner of a block and was now running down the street containing the alley. She grinned, knowing she was almost home free. The black market would be a safe place, given that it enforced a rule against fighting.

Now knowing the location of the alley, Chiya ran at a fast pace. She wasn't worried so much about a gang attack, rather, she feared that the _Red Dove_ may arrive soon. For all she knew, she may only have a minute before Seppuku arrives. Little did she know at the time; Seppuku, indeed, was not the immediate threat.

Once again, up above the rooftops, several members of Red Star stood ready with their weapons. This time, however, Chiya had a true situation about to unfold. Red Star had a new weapon at their disposal intended to be used against Bloody Chain convoys. Guarded by two riflemen, one man sat with a machine gun and tripod. Many of the gangsters took notice of Chiya and even identified her. Purple shorts, green beanie, blonde hair, pale skin; there was no doubting this woman as the destroyer of many gang bikes.

The machine gunner gulped, “D- Do we kill her?”

“I don't remember if the boss wanted us to keep her alive or not...” another responded.

The Mysterian came closer to the alley and had a sweat built upon her. While she was fretting over Seppuku's arrival, a machine gun was trained on her. It would be a simple kill, Chiya wouldn't have a chance to evade so much gunfire.

“She's getting close to the black market. Kill her?”

Looks of tough contemplation formed around the rooftop. Chiya crossed over the street, now able to see the alley. After a few more moments of heavy thinking, mutual nods were exchanged between the gangsters. The machine gunner placed a belt of ammunition into the heavy weapon, then cocked it back.

Everyone watched as the machine gunner proceeded to fire large bursts toward the woman. She gasped and jumped beside a streetlight, which offered very little protection. As bullets flew around her, she jumped away and continued running for the alley. The machine gun was too far a distance away to land accurate shots. Soon, fellow comrades opened fire with their assault rifles.

Escaping the Red Star infantry would be improbable. Chiya was debating whether or not to take cover or rush for the alley. The only benefit she had in this situation was her short height and distance from enemies. Another reason for their lack of accuracy was due to the fact that all Red Star assault rifles had dumbbells chained to the barrel to add extra weight. All in all, she was hard to hit. There was no doubting that Red Star always had their eyes on the black market, destroying it would only do Mute City a favor.

Chiya leapt into the alley, where she thought safety could be found. However, some gangsters still had her in their sights. Bullets continued to fly past her and were missing by mere inches. At last, her luck had run out. Just as she looked forward down the alley, a lone bullet chased Chiya down the alley and collided with her shoulder. Her eyes became wide and her jaw dropped, the bullet didn't exit her shoulder, it bolted inside of her and became stuck either in her bone or muscle.

She screamed and fell, then held her shoulder in pain as she curled up on the ground. She was laying in agony, excruciating pain overwhelmed her in this dark moment. An attempt was made to push down on the ground and lift herself up. This was a part of the alley she could not be shot in, a bullet would need to bounce off the ground in order to hit her.

Chiya struggled to move her wounded arm, she could feel the moistness of her wound, and worst of all, a lump could be felt within her shoulder—the bullet. Biting her tongue and coping through the pain, she pressed down on the device Seppuku had given her. Upon activating it, the device began to display green lights. She didn't call Seppuku for help for help in combat, but rather, because she was scared and knew that traveling home on her own would be close to impossible. Chiya continued to groan and whimper with watery eyes—but urged herself not to cry. She could never imagine herself getting shot, as if being an attractive female was going to keep her safe from such a situation. Soon, she looked up and gasped, the door to the black market was in front of her. She still had a chance to save the arms dealer.

She got on her knees while trying not to shake her right arm too much; soon, she managed to stand up. The woman moved toward the door while holding her shoulder. Chiya was lucky to still have a working arm at all after having been shot by a rifle—not a handgun. If the rifle's bullet had traveled any closer to the center of her arm, it could have destroyed the bone. Chiya's movement became much quicker, she was still determined to complete her mission without failure. She hid her wounded arm behind her back and opened the door, she did not want the owner to realize that she had been shot, for it may appear suspicious. Chiya walked up to the counter and looked up at the owner who raised an eyebrow at her.

“Back already?”

Chiya approached him and warned, “Y- You need to leave. You're in danger!”

The dealer raised both his eyebrows, “Danger? Why?”

“The Bloody Chain plan on killing you, so that they can ransack this place,” she lied.

He chuckled, “I have a turret defense all over this store. I'm invincible.”

Chiya growled in frustration, knowing she must convince him somehow, “I don't know how to make you understand…” She grabbed the two wallets Seppuku gave her the previous day and took out all of the money. “I will give you every single credit I have for you to leave this place for the day…”

He looked at the credits in amazement, “That's a lot of money, for a bum.”

Blood was beginning to drip from the woman's elbow, she resolved this by kicking her leg back to wipe the blood off. The man appeared skeptical, but was surprised to see how much she was offering. He knew that something was too good to be true when a stranger offers him money to run away.

“You mean, you'll give me all of this just to leave?” Chiya nodded with a serious face. He then rubbed his chin and put the money in his pocket, “To give me all of this, just to leave. You must be pretty certain that I'm in danger...” Chiya nodded again. The man proceeded to nod as well, “You _are_ with the Federation, aren't you..?”

Chiya did not respond to him right away, but found herself nodding.

“To an _extent_.”

The dealer nodded and began to configure his turret defense remote. “The next time that door opens, the turrets will begin firing at anyone who enters this room; so I insist that you leave now.”

Chiya exhaled in relief, “How will you get out unharmed?”

The owner kicked open an underground door leading to a tunnel, “I built this underground passageway leading to the Upper City years back. I'll just exit through here and come back tomorrow to pack my things. With the gangs wanting me dead, there's really no point of keeping this place open, anyway.” Chiya swallowed with a nod. “If Brock and Chain are content letting their only source of weaponry and ammunition walk away, no skin off my bones.”

The woman had little interest in continuing this conversation with him, as she already began walking toward the door. Before departing underground, the dealer noticed that she was bleeding, he stared at her in awe as she then left the black market. He would have said something about her wound, but she had opened the door, thus activating the turret defense. He had to continue down the tunnel, otherwise, his turrets may shoot him.

           

 

 

Chiya looked down the alley and found her handgun on the ground. She approached the gun to pick it up while contemplating how she would make it back to base with Red Star surrounding the street. She knelt down after picking up her handgun, this wound was making her exhausted. Moments later, she could hear footsteps approaching her. She was relieved, knowing this to be none other than Lieutenant Seppuku. This was not the case. Two Red Star gangsters approached her, tasked with retrieving the woman.

Chiya looked back at the door with a desire to run back where it's safe. If she were to enter the black market, the turrets would take her out. Thus, Chiya turned toward the two gangsters with a nervous expression. She brought up her handgun with the intention of firing a shot, but one of them grabbed her arm before she could fire. She was held up in the air by her wounded arm, she retained a tight grasp of her handgun.

“Ou—uch! Dammit, let go of me!”

The other gangster walked around her and looked at her arm, “Oh, we _did_ get her!” he said upon spotting blood.

Chiya was grunting in the air, motionless and without words. She saw no way of escaping their grasp. Her left arm was too damaged to attempt a punch, the two were also holding assault rifles that put her in an even more difficult predicament.

“You're not supposed to shoot pretty women, you're supposed to take them out to dinner and buy them things!” the other gangster joked.

The Mysterian opened her eyes with a sad face, “I- Ideally, yes…”

The other gangster crossed his arms with a fake smile, “Brock will be pleased that we managed to capture her. She'll lure Lieutenant Seppuku to us!”

The man holding Chiya then lost most of his skull as Lieutenant Seppuku stand behind the two with his rifle. “She already did.”

The other man was spared with a mere knockout from the stock of Seppuku's weapon. One gangster fell dead, the other unconscious. Chiya had fallen as well. Seppuku looked down at Chiya, who was slipping away from trauma. He checked to see if she was dead, but found her groan in pain.

“Oh, good. You're okay.”

He walked over to the door of the black market with the bag of explosives, he pulled out a lighter and lit the bag on fire. He opened the door and waited for the bag to become engulfed in fire. With what consciousness Chiya still had, she grabbed her gun and rolled onto her back. She glanced over at Seppuku, who had at that moment thrown the bag into the building. Chiya could feel herself slipping away, the last thing she saw was Seppuku walking toward her. She placed her handgun over her breasts and closed her eyes.

Seppuku looked down at Chiya, who had just fainted. This was when he realized that she had been shot in the shoulder. Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her body, but instead of helping her, moved over to the two Red Star bodies. He looted both men for their wallets, then looked over at Chiya again.

           

 

 

            Chiya now found herself standing in a white environment—white mist and fog covered the entire area. Chiya looked at her shoulder, which appeared to be unscratched. She gasped and began to panic, looking around for any color; but only dull whiteness surrounded her.

“Where am I!?”

“You're having a dream.”

Chiya's eyes widened in great shock, this was a familiar voice. Spinning around, the image of Captain Falcon faded into existence. The man clothed in blue stood looking at her from a distance.

“You chose another man's life over yours, even though your life will prove to be more important than that black market owner's.”

Chiya bolted upward, “Am I dead!?”

Falcon grinned, “Of course not. You only took a minor blow to the shoulder.”

Earl Bendek's image appeared behind her, “We're not real, just figures of your imagination,” he explained.

At last, Lieutenant Seppuku appeared beside her, “You survived your encounter and your body is recovering as you dream. You're in a slumber…”

“Oh, good. I'd like to wake up now, please,” she said smiling.

Seppuku rejected the request, “Since you won't listen to me in the real world, I must educate you here instead.”

“Educate me, in what way? That I should let the innocent die?”

Seppuku walked in front of her while opening up his coat, a blinding rainbow blew out of his coat. Chiya was hyperventilating in fear as the rainbow began to color the world around her. Captain Falcon changed shape, now taking on the form of Samurai Goroh. Seppuku soon closed his coat, he turned the empty white world into the transport ship they were aboard. Chiya looked around with a confused face, they were standing next to the docking bridge that connected Goroh's ship to the transport. She grunted after noticing that Goroh was holding Earl.

“Wha- What..?”

Seppuku went on to explain, “Goroh was holding Earl, your dear friend, hostage. All you did was stand there doing nothing. You killed Goroh's pirates that day, but you refrained from killing the mastermind behind the operation.”

“If I moved forward, he would have killed Earl. And regardless, it's not like you did anything, either.”

“It was a moment that required critical thinking. If you recall, I did pursue Goroh, while you chose to sit idly by with a dying Bendek. You accepted defeat. You should have shot Goroh the first second the opportunity came.”

Chiya stood motionless, not sure how to respond to this. Seppuku opened his coat again and recreated the moment where she had Michael Chain at gun point.

“In this scenario, you had an opportunity to kill Michael Chain, and thus cripple the Bloody Chain. But you didn't. You let him go, instead.”

Chiya clenched her fists and challenged, “I was giving him a chance to leave Mute City!”

Seppuku pointed at the two Bloody Chain corpses, she had shot both of his guards with armor piercing bullets, “You killed his two guards, but left Michael Chain alive. What crimes did they commit that could possibly exceed Michael Chain's crimes?”

“I had no idea I was-”

Seppuku opened his coat all the way, completely filling the area with an unfamiliar setting, they were now atop of the Galactic Federation HQ during a storm. Chiya looked around confused, she was never on top of the tower during a storm. She then looked down toward the ground, she widened her eyes and trembled at how high up they were. She felt as though her balance could be lost at any moment.

Seppuku, standing adjacent to her, crossed his arms with constant lightning bolts striking behind him. “If you intend on adjusting my plans to your liking, I expect you to know what you're doing. If I tell you to kill Chain, you kill Chain. If I tell you to stand aside and let me blow up the black market, you stand aside. And in the future, when I tell you to help kill Chain or Blaskovitz, I expect some damn good results!”

Chiya looked back down and gulped, but remained brave and stood up for her morals, “I will not surrender to you, Seppuku. I don't care if you're just a figure of my imagination...” Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her. “I am no killer! If someone is deserving of death, fine. But I refuse to kill people who are redeemable. I'd kill Brock Blackwax, Goroh, or even Blood Falcon; but I will not kill men just because they're dealing weaponry!”

“Is that your decision, child?”

“It is! And I'm not afraid to say these things to the actual Seppuku!”

The Man of Darkness remained standing with his coat waving in the wind. After shaking his head, he shrugged and pulled up his rifle. “Don't bother...” Chiya widened her eyes at the sight of his gun. The man pushed a bullet down the chamber and continued shaking his head. “You see too much good in humanity, Flower. But when it comes down to those two men who tried raping you, never again did you speak about it. You're content having one of those men killed, since they were threatening you; but when it comes down to violent gang leaders who slaughter on a daily basis—you're merciful.”

Chiya's glare intensified, “Wanker, you're demonizing me!”

“You are a hypocrite. Nothing but a greedy woman who acts like an angel to earn respect. You're a _Siren—_ a person who wins the favor of others through cute smiles and cheerful sayings. You may have brought Bendek underwater to drown, but I see through your song of hypocrisy.”

“My song of hypocrisy?” she repeated with a glare.

“You sing about your innocence. How you would never kill, just live a nice life away from violence. But I know what you're all about. Hidden away in your song of compassion, is a dark secret—a dark truth.” Chiya's eyebrows lowered in fear. “You were a killer before you even met me. I know this to be true, because I can read your mind like an encyclopedia of information. By acting like a nice and cuddly girl, you are trying to cover up the facts that you are a murderer, Chiya Flower. Just a cute hypocrite with a bloody knife behind her back.”

Chiya was left speechless and with a dropped jaw, the Man of Darkness took up the distracted opportunity to take aim at her forehead, then fired.

 

 

 

Chiya launched herself up flailing her arms and panicking in a loud tone. She was in bed surrounded by her two friends. Seppuku had his bare hand cupped over her forehead, while Earl stood beside her grinning. The Man of Darkness took his hand off her head and put his glove back on.

Earl greeted her, “Good, you're awake.”

Chiya looked at him with a surprised face, Seppuku now explained, “You passed out because of your little wound. Must have traumatized you into fainting.”

The woman dipped her head and sighed, “I'm sorry for leaving the base without you. I was just thinking that I would make sure that no gang members-”

“Stop it, you idiot,” Chiya gasped at his rude response. “Don't take me for some kind of idiot. It's obvious that you went to warn the owner of my arrival…”

Chiya looked down at her chest with a feeling of guilt, Seppuku put his hand on her shoulder, “If you would go as far as getting shot to save someone you don't know, you must have had a strong belief that the man had good intentions. While I may not agree with this, I'll just have to respect your decision for now. What's done is done.”

Chiya beamed and nodded, “Very well.”

“Bendek says that your shoulder should be good to go in about two days.”

Earl grunted and turned his head, “I said, two weeks. _Weeks_!”

Seppuku laughed, disregarding his advice. Chiya stared at Earl for a few moments, then looked back at Seppuku.

“Did the black market go up in flames?” she asked.

“Like fireworks.” Seppuku looked at Earl, “How's Flower's machine going?”

Earl rubbed the back of his head, “I almost have the reactor installed, but you keep damaging your damn machine, so I have to continue devoting my full attention to it, especially with the next race around the corner.”

Seppuku grinned, “Lightning—my favorite track in Mute City.”

Chiya widened her eyes, “You mean, in the Lightning Area of Mute City?”

“Yep, no justice there. It would be a death trap for the Federation to patrol that area. It's a criminal's paradise.”

            “I'm surprised you don't lurk around there…” Chiya muttered.

 

 

 

Far away in a dark building, Michael Chain moved with two of his goons, his legs were getting better after having been shot.

“If we're to stop Blaskovitz, we're going to need to stop the third party, first!” he yelled at his accompanying men. He slammed his hand against the hallway of the base, “I've had enough, forget Red Star! I want a manhunt initiated! Seppuku must die!”

One of his men responded, “You want us to scout the city for Seppuku?”

“I know Seppuku lives down here. I want us to go door to door until we find him!” He crossed his arms and growled, “As for the girl…”

He beat his two fists together with grinding teeth, “I want to kill that girl personally…”


	18. Lap 18

==Lap 19=

 

The following day, Chiya and Earl were relaxing in the Falcon House, Bart was leaning toward the two discussing the upcoming race at the Lightning track. The Lightning Area was a famous part of outer Mute City with a reputation for being covered under what many label as an endless storm. A weather generator had been built within the Lightning Area that forces a storm into existence. The purpose of creating constant lightning was so that the area could became a major location for collecting energy. As a result, the Federation is able to deliver unlimited energy to planets for almost no cost. The greatest significance to have come from the Lightning Area is the near extinction of the 'electric bill', for each second provides the Federation with almost 30 billion joules of energy.

Chiya took a loud sip of her coffee and turned to face Earl, who was the current speaker in the conversation.

“I've heard rumors that the Lightning Area may be where Blood Falcon lurks,” said Earl.

Bart was fast to shoot this theory down, “Very unlikely. Blood Falcon serves a master of darkness, and his master wouldn't be staying this close to the Federation.”

Chiya raised her eyebrows, Bart seemed to have all his facts straight when it came to F-Zero, so she was willing to believe him. “Master? Who's his master?”

“The _Emperor of Brutality—_ Black Shadow.” Bart opened a drawer behind the counter and pulled out a folder containing photos and information. He opened up a section of the folder and placed it in front of the Mysterian, “This is Black Shadow.”

Chiya observed the photos in front of her with great awe. Black Shadow was more muscular than Michael Chain, wore a black bodysuit, black cape, mask that connected to his bodysuit, and devil horns. Bart and Earl watched her every reaction, she rubbed her chin while looking at the photos. She took note of a massive F-Zero machine with an elevated cockpit that the emperor stood beside.

“But he's an F-Zero racer?”

Bart shook his head, “Black Shadow no longer appears at the annual Grand Prix—he was banned. The last time he raced was during the F-Zero X Grand Prix.”

Earl snickered, “Not like it matters, anyway. It was illegal to be a Black Shadow fan even before he had his license revoked…”

The news that Black Shadow had been banned surprised Chiya, but what Earl said caused her to slam her hands down on the counter in amazement, “Blimey, it's illegal to be a fan!?”

“After the F-Zero X Grand Prix, he was labeled insane and a terrorist by the Galactic Federation.” Bart gazed down at a photo of the dark emperor. “Black Shadow proclaimed himself to be a God, so they decided it was time to pressure him to quit. He's the head of a dark cult called ' _Dark Million_ '.” This intrigued both Chiya and Earl; for Earl had never heard of this cult. Bart spotted the looks of intrigue and went on to explain. “Dark Million is a dark cult aspiring to destroy humanity, because their philosophy sees humanity as a bunch of immoral thugs who partake in the worst of activities.”

Chiya barred her teeth and gasped, “B- Bloody Hell! That's quite an ambition!”

“Dark Million believes in an all powerful supernatural being known as the 'Red Dove', said to reveal itself when prosperity is threatened.”

Again, both Chiya and Earl widened their eyes and exchanged glances. Earl tugged on the collar of his shirt and asked, “Uh, you mean, like Seppuku's machine?”

Bart shrugged, “I do believe Seppuku's satirizing it. That, or perhaps Seppuku himself is a believer...”

This was all a lot to take in. For once, both Chiya and Earl were on the same page about Seppuku—both were left with similar questions about the Man of Darkness. Nevertheless, Chiya shook her initial thoughts off and returned to the original topic.

“Why didn't someone just kill him during a race? This guy sounds like bad news.”

The coffeeman closed his eyes and sighed, “It isn't possible. We would have to take him out away from the race or on the track. It's a matter of culture. F-Zero is its own nation; once you enter a track, you follow a new set of laws. Those laws are very protective of wanted men and women.”

Chiya shook her head in disbelief, this was outrageous news to her. She believed that if a criminal was too dangerous, they should be taken care of despite what F-Zero regulations say about it.

She gave a followup question, “Where is he now?”

Earl answered, “No one knows, not even Captain Falcon. Anyone who can collect his bounty would be set for life, though.”

Bart grabbed the folder and put it back in the drawer, “He'll reveal himself to us, eventually.” He closed the drawer and looked out the window, the _White Cat_ had just parked in the front. “When he does appear, we'll be ready…” he concluded as Jody Summer walked in.

The Federation chief commander was met with many different emotions. Bart gave her a welcoming look, Earl a nervous one, and Chiya a somewhat hostile face. Everyone in the room had different opinions on the woman, Chiya had a negative view of the woman because of her past attempt to get her away from Seppuku and Earl.

Bart saluted her, “Ms. Summer.”

Jody stood by the door and gazed at him with no sign of emotion. The lack of motion in her eyes were almost unnatural. “Bart, can I talk to you in the back, please?”

After putting on a more serious face, Bart nodded and stepped into the backroom. Jody walked behind the counter, but stopped in front of Earl.

“How's Seppuku?”

Earl's response was immediate as he flailed one hand up with a fired up glare, “Well! You'll be interested to know that his actions got Chiya shot in the shoulder yesterday!”

Chiya gasped and shook her hands, “T- That's not true! His actions would have prevented me from getting shot. I was shot on my own accord; my own fault!”

The reasoning behind Chiya's sudden defense for Seppuku could have been for two reasons. First, she didn't want to risk losing her home at Seppuku's base. Second, she didn't want to admit to Jody that she was right about Seppuku endangering her life.

The chief commander nodded, “Careful, you'll have much more of those situations the longer you stick with him.” She shot Chiya a straight finger, “This, is an inevitability.” She continued into the backroom with Bart.

Earl saw no harm done with Jody's argument, for he saw some truth in her words. Chiya, however, clenched her fist in fury. The last time they encountered Jody was on Sand Ocean, where she almost begged the three to continue working on the gang war. Even so, she still appeared to be hinting for Chiya to leave Seppuku. Jody wasn't the evil monster that the Mysterian government made her out to be; but Chiya still viewed the woman as a bully.

“Earl, let's go...” she demanded.

Earl gritted his teeth and now took notice of her boiling attitude, but agreed to take her home. Both left the Falcon House without bidding farewell.

 

 

 

It was later that night Chiya and Earl had gotten down to business and were working on her future machine. Earl almost had the machine working, but Seppuku continued to halt progress by requiring constant maintenance on the _Red Dove_. They did, however, manage to install the machine's cockpit window.

While Earl worked on installing the reactor to her machine, Chiya sat on his workbench watching with a nervous face and kicking feet. She was observing his work with interest and even asking questions every now and then, but though she didn't want to admit it, there was something else on her mind. A dead silence was almost separating each other from reality, all the while, Chiya remained seated staring at the man's shaggy hair. Young, kind, and working on a machine for her at no cost. She refused to acknowledge that her thoughts were under emotional siege, but she couldn't help herself.

Her kicking became stronger, the heels of her boots knocked against the workbench for many more seconds. Earl nodded every time her heel clicked against the workbench—as if he were treating this like a musical beat—but then she stopped after almost two minutes. Earl raised his head and tilted his head toward her. The Mysterian swallowed while pushing her fingers together. The look on her face was cute, nervous, and frantic altogether.

Their eyes met for a moment, and Chiya took a clear shot in the dirt, “So, Bart tells me that you think I'm beautiful...”

The mechanic's eyes widened for a brief moment, Chiya caught this surprised look and widened her eyes as well. For a split second, Earl tried retreating, but felt sandbagged by her comment.

“U—uh...” Earl lowered his brows, “Bart said that, huh..?”

At first, the question was sent as a possible bid for romance; but Chiya ended up cowering away half way in. Instead of an interrogation, she adjusted her reasoning for bringing this up in a false way.

“I- I wasn't often complimented as such on Mysteria...” she lied with two nervous eyes. “I just, was surprised to hear that you may find me good looking, considering I've been homeless for so long...”

Earl nodded and turned away from her to resume working, but now she was inside his head. Though he tried his hardest to leave this conversation alone, he couldn't conclude it without offering a better response. He made a slow turn and wiped his hands against his jeans, then released a loud exhale. Chiya was almost sweating bullets, having not thought this out enough. She realized now that if Bart had been lying, Earl might break her heart by arguing against the 'beautiful' comment.

Both appeared nervous to speak, but Earl spoke his mind, “I did. Though, I told him that in confidence that what goes in the Falcon House would stay in the Falcon House.”

Chiya half frowned and put her hands together, “So, you do think I'm- err... You don't think I'm an eyesore of a woman?” She grasped her stomach and shrugged, “I know attractive women have thin bodies, but, I'm almost anorexic thin...”

The man respected her courage to bring up such a topic, and in turn, offered a more detailed explanation. “All of these girls I meet in the bar are 'pretty'; but I wouldn't say many of them are 'beautiful'.” The look on Chiya's face displayed confusion. “To me, a beautiful woman is someone who's pretty, sure. But most importantly, that woman is a kindred spirit on the inside. You offer the best of both worlds, so, yes. I think you're beautiful.”

Chiya cupped a hand over her mouth. An uncontrollable blush made its way onto her face, but she was lucky to find that Earl had turned to resume working on the machine. She dipped her head down and tried to regain control over her cheeks. In the meantime, Earl stood above the machine looking down at the reactor he had installed.

He gazed at the reactor for many moments and soon whined, “This should be it, but it just isn't spinning…”

This caused Chiya's blush to die. She now bit on her finger hoping that there was not a problem with the reactor she picked out from the Red Star lot. Earl leapt down to the floor while thinking of what the problem could be, Chiya stood up and brought her hands together, praying that the answer would be within sight soon. If the part didn't work, Seppuku may have Chiya return to the Red Star lot to find another reactor. She couldn't envision herself accepting this mission for a second time. Earl climbed into the cockpit in search of the problem's source. His search brought him to the dashboard, where he made a troubling discovery.

“Well, that's just great…”

Chiya gulped, “What is it?”

“This reactor was special built for lightweight machines, like the Red Dove. The machine we're trying to build is far too heavy.”

The Mysterian's heart dropped like a bomb, and so she dipped her head down in disappointment. Earl felt very guilty knowing that this was something he could've discovered much earlier on. He jumped out of the machine and approached her.

“B- But I bet the Red Dove's reactor would work in your machine, we could just switch these reactors around.”

Chiya shook with a great frown, “No, the race is only two days away. It would be a tragedy if we did something wrong to his machine…” Earl sighed at the limited amount of options they had, Chiya began walking away from him in disappointment. “I- I'm just going to go draw or something…”

Earl gritted his teeth and took a quick glance back at her machine, then shook his head again. Chiya was dragging herself away in a very depressing fashion. He ran toward her with both arms extended.

“Chiya, Chiya, Chiya, Chiya..!”

He ran up behind her and grabbed both her shoulders. Chiya lowered her eyelids and soon found herself forced back around by her companion. Earl looked down at her crushed face, though she refused to make eye contact. Both her eyes were very watery. The sight of such a saddened woman was morale crushing for Earl.

“Chiya... please...” She still refused to look up at him. “I- I'm sorry, Chiya. I really am. We'll figure something out, okay? I bet we can find a new reactor, somewhere, somehow...”

Chiya offered no happy response to this. Her eyes only continued to water up, though she refrained from crying. “I'm sorry for making you work so hard on this..!”

All of a sudden, Chiya shoved Earl back with full strength and made a run for the door. Earl was left with a dropped jaw, though he didn't stop her. This was a clear overreaction, given that they could find a new reactor. Yet, he understood how she felt. For her to now live such a dangerous life, he could understand how very much she wanted her F-Zero machine. Every day she would run into the garage hoping that he had finished the machine—now the shocking reality came to be that they not only needed a combat module, but another reactor as well.

Earl sighed, desperately looking for a way to cheer Chiya up, he didn't know her enough to give a gift that she would enjoy. He soon looked back at the _Red Dove_ and clenching his fists with two watery eyes.

           

 

 

Chiya now walked down the hallway of the base with both hands dug into her pockets. Her sorrow now turned into anger at the fact that more work would need to be done to find another reactor that _might_ work with her machine.

The fuming mad Mysterian approached Seppuku's office with the intention of informing him about the bad reactor. She sighed and opened the door, but to her surprise couldn't find Seppuku anywhere. She continued walking into his office, nonetheless. _He must be out hunting for crime…_ The first thing she noticed was that the room was illuminated by the glow of his computer. Chiya could feel her heart beat, now fighting the urge to go on his computer and seek information. She hadn't been on a computer since high school, and now she had an opportunity. She remained still by the door, battling her temptations to search the computer for information on the man who only knew darkness. _What if he has secret plans to rule the planet..?_

She shook her head, “It would be rude to do that, though…”

In the end, she made the less moralistic decision and put herself behind his desk. Seppuku would most times stay out for most of the night, this meant she had a few hours to look around for information. To play things safe, she was to only grab whatever information was necessary.

She began to access his computer and looked around for things of interest to her, many things he saved were news articles pertaining to Captain Falcon. Chiya stared at all of the articles with. _Why does he care so much about Captain Falcon? Doesn't he hate the man..?_ Chiya was trying to figure out where she could access information that Seppuku had been viewing.

“I know, I'll just check his search history.” She opened a web browser on the computer and scanned all of the things he had been looking at. Most results led to news sites or anything F-Zero related. There was one word he often searched up, one that left Chiya squinting in confusion.

“...Seppuku may be intelligent, but he sure misspells 'Milk' a lot...” 

Soon, she found something that caught her eye—an official medical record. Chiya widened her eyes at the record and bit her lip. _That would be going too far. No one should see this except for Seppuku..._ She was tapping her fingers down while looking away from the screen. She did come to realize, though, that this was the opportunity she was looking for; this very well could reveal who Lieutenant Seppuku is. Chiya closed her eyes with a feeling of guilt. _I'll just skim for basic information, nothing more…_ She opened the page, thus revealing his scanned medical record. The record stated that he had checked into a hospital only one time in his entire life. Chiya was already violating her word by looking at every single bit of information listed about him. She was very surprised by what was listed.

“Sex: Male, Age: Unknown, Place of Birth: Unknown…” she muttered in amazement, “Blood Type: _Unknown,_ Family: Unknown…” her mouth was dropped in confusion by what little information was available. His entire medical record was spammed with 'unknown'.

She moved down to the doctor's note on him, the only existing note. To add on to the woman's surprise, the note didn't appear to be intended for Seppuku to read. This lead her to believe that Seppuku had obtained this record through illegal means. The doctor wrote:

 

 

' _The patient has refused to provide us with his birth name, simply wanting to be called by his racing persona. This patient has an unusual tendency to act hostile even when not provoked. We called in scientists, against his knowledge, to study a disturbing discovery made in the lab. His blood type is unknown, and even more peculiar is that his blood readings return similar data that blood from a child would. We have not determined how this is possible or whether this endangers him; he appears to be healthy, nonetheless. I'm sending this document up to Seoul for further collaboration. Under no circumstance should this medical record be brought to the patient's attention, we have already informed the Galactic Space Federation of this strange discovery.'_

           

 

Chiya blinked a few times with a lost expression. She failed to understand what was wrong with Seppuku, but knew that something was wrong with his blood. The fact that doctors were sharing information about a patient without permission was illegal.

 _Did Seppuku have some kind of birth defect, o- or is he not even human..?_ Chiya put her hands back on the keyboard, then noticed something next to her hand. The key to the _Red Dove_. She stared at the key with something in her mind, but she couldn't figure it out. Thinking back to when she first met Seppuku the night she was in danger, she realized that Seppuku had the _Red Dove_ with him. When hunting for crime, he liked roaming the streets in the _Red Dove_. She widened her eyes at the key as reality hit her on the head; the _Red Dove_ was still in the garage before she came to the office.

Just as she had figured out what was wrong, the door had begun to open. Seppuku had not left the base. A frightened Chiya ducked under his desk, as this was the only place she could hide in such a situation.

Seppuku turned on the lights and walked toward his desk. Chiya was on her knees trembling in immense fear, Seppuku was certain to find her if he sat down.

“Stay in front of my desk,” Seppuku ordered.

Chiya gasped before realizing that he wasn't talking to her. Someone else was in the room with them. She jolted up startled and gritted her teeth as she could see Seppuku's legs move under the desk. She could only fit under the desk if she stayed on her knees. Chiya gulped as his feet slipped about an inch under her chest. If he so much as moved his feet an inch upward, she would be uncovered due to her large breasts.

Seppuku sighed, “So, you wanted me for..?”

A female voice answered, “We were called several times yesterday about a large explosion. I presume this was your doing?”

Chiya recognized the voice with little effort, it was Jody Summer. Seppuku chuckled at Jody's accusation toward him.

“Well, you _did_ tell me to finish this fight for you, after all.”

“You're not contributing in any way, you're simply causing more havoc!”

Seppuku grunted and struck his fist down on the desk, “That isn't true. Without that black market, the streets will be even more clean.”

“You're not making the kind of progress I thought you would, considering I let you continue working down here,” Jody argued.

“I could say the same thing to you!” Seppuku snapped back at her, he kicked his foot up along with this.

Chiya grabbed her mouth to block a scream. Her left breast had been kicked; she knew that this would happen, but she didn't consider the fact that Seppuku could deliver strong kicks. Her eyes began to water in pain. _I had that coming…_ She was then further startled as Seppuku put his legs on her back as a footrest. Seppuku halted with a surprised look. He could tell that something was going on under his desk, but he didn't bother looking down, so he continued to use Chiya as a footrest. Chiya's eyes quivered in fear, realizing that she couldn't make a single movement. Seppuku was rubbing his chin while looking at Jody, then grinned in a devious way. Moments later, Chiya found Seppuku rubbing the dirty soles of his boots over her back like a carpet. The Mysterian gritted her teeth and refrained from growling.

“What black market are you speaking of?” Jody demanded.

“Both Red Star and the Bloody Chain were taking advantage of this one black market; so my, _associate,_ and I removed it by using appropriate force…” He kicked his right foot on Chiya's back, making her struggle to stay on her knees. “With no black market, they'll no longer wage constant battles over that street, and most of all, they'll start to run out of ammunition.”

“What street? Did you account for the fact that the gangs may now try getting weapons from the Upper City?” Jody lectured.

“That would be your problem, I only work down here.”

Seppuku moved his other foot to the back of Chiya's neck and pushed down on it. Chiya was shaking from pressure, but was still holding herself together.

“Take me to this Black Market,” Jody demanded.

Seppuku tapped his foot down on Chiya a few times, “And Just like that, the Federation wants my help again.”

Chiya exhaled in relief, he was going to leave.

“Shut up and let's go.”

Seppuku put on a sly grin, “Oh, I was thinking we could just sit here and reconnect a little, first. I'm feeling quite relaxed right now...”

He pushed both feet against the back of her neck. Chiya was staring forward with a quivering lip, her neck aching from all the abuse.

Jody faked a laugh at Seppuku's proposal, “Yeah right. Take me to this market, now.”

Seppuku finally grinned and took his feet off Chiya, “Fine, I'll show you.”

Seppuku left with Jody on a late night mission to the former black market. The lights turned off and Chiya was once again alone. She crawled out of the desk now exhausted from being used as furniture. Approaching a mirror revealed dirt from Seppuku's boots going all the way from her shorts to her hair.

“Oh, bugger. This day just keeps getting better...”

 

           

 

Chiya seconds later left for her room, this wasn't a good day for her. The main issue being that the reactor for her F-Zero machine didn't work. Seppuku had warned her that if they did not have all the parts for her F-Zero machine installed shortly after this Grand Prix, he would not help her apply for the following annual Grand Prix. The very thought of missing next year's Grand Prix caused her to leap onto her pillow. She shook the pillow in great fury. She could drive an F-Zero machine, but Chiya believed she could do more than just drive; she could race and win the Grand Prix—with enough training. She didn't want to miss yet another Grand Prix. While she was indeed content being able to watch the Grand Prix with Earl, she wanted much more than to watch.

After whining at her pillow for about a minute, she decided that she wanted to see Earl again, but refrained from doing so. She couldn't bring herself back to him, especially after her dramatic exit from the garage. _God, he must find me so annoying…_

With little to nothing left for Chiya to do, she turned off the lights after deciding that she needed urgent rest. As she proceeded to try sleeping, all she thought about was how she would one day become an F-Zero racer, this is what she had to realize. She would become an F-Zero racer, but perhaps not as soon as she thought.

 

 

 

Chiya awoke the following morning with someone shaking her violently, as an initial response, she grabbed the handgun that sat beside her and aimed at the culprit; but of course, it was Seppuku.

“Wake up, child…”

With a gun to his forehead, Chiya blinked at him a few times while grunting, “Wh- Wh- Why don't you ever knock?”

 

 

A not so conscious Chiya followed Seppuku through the hallways, she was much calmer now after realizing that getting a reactor may be easy if Seppuku helped her. The tall man stopped at the garage door, Chiya looked up at him with a confused look. Seppuku remained still and pointed at the doorknob. A skeptical Flower raised an eyebrow and continued her way into the garage. It was here that she gasped at what she found—or what she didn't find. Both F-Zero machines vanished.

She scanned the garage with very wide eyes, Seppuku walked past her and went toward the large garage door. She followed him outside, where the brightness bothered her eyes, for she had only just woken up. She stopped and stood in amazement. She was staring at Earl, who was standing by both F-Zero machines with an excited grin. Both machines were turned on next to each other.

Chiya muttered unclear words of awe, both amazed and confused at what she was seeing. Earl was looking at her with a look of pride as she make her way toward her machine. The booster was even installed, she knew that the reactor was installed properly since the machine was running. Chiya widened her eyes in amazement, everything was installed except for a combat module. She spun around and faced Earl—speechless.

“B- But, I thought-”

Seppuku crossed his arms angrily, “He was supposed to be working on the Red Dove; but instead, he worked on your machine all night…”

Earl shrugged, “The Red Dove's fine.”

Chiya clapped her hands together and beamed, “You got everything installed!?”

“Everything but a combat module. Get that, and we can get to the fun stuff, like painting,” he said before winking.

Chiya jumped with joy, “Yeah! Purring Kitten—red and pink!”

Earl cringed before smirking with discomfort. “Oh, you were serious..?”

At that moment, Chiya jumped onto Earl and gave him a tight squeeze. To his surprise, Chiya managed to lift him off the ground while giving him a mighty hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Earl grunted within her grasp, almost suffocating in her lethal hug. Looking down, the man smirked and gulped with perverted amusement—Chiya's large breasts were smashed against his chest as she hug him.

“I- It's my pleasure...” he spoke while searching for air.

Seppuku couldn't help but find himself amused by this colorful scene, but as soon as Chiya caught him smirking, he shot back a look of anger. He pointed at Earl with a straight finger.

“You're going to work on the Red Dove _all day_ or you're fired!”

Earl chuckled, “Yeah, yeah…” He then looked over at Chiya, who was bent over her almost finished machine. “Hey Chi', what's all that black stuff on your back?”

He was referring to the dirt left from Seppuku's boots.

She jolted up with wide eyes, “U—uh…”

Seppuku formed a slow grin, “Yes, how did you get that over your back?”

Chiya looked at him and tugged on the collar of her shirt, it was almost too obvious that Seppuku knew what had happened.

“Uh, you know, I was…” She tried thinking of an excuse for several moments, but failed to provide a good answer, “Using... my body... as a broom..?”

Seppuku laughed at her as he walked away from the two.

Chiya looked over at Earl, who was still grinning. She was very thankful for what he did for her. What Earl didn't mention, however, was that he went ahead and replaced the _Red Dove_ 's reactor with the one she brought him, even though she told him not to.

It was a secret he would take to his grave.


	19. Lap 19

==Lap 20=

 

Chiya roamed the hallway of the base with an overjoyed smile. Earl had installed every necessary part for her F-Zero machine, now all that remained to install was a combat module. The Grand Prix was already half way through and everything seemed to be going positive. Neither gang was making progress in the gang war, her machine was almost competition worthy, and Seppuku still had the possibility of placing 1st overall in the Grand Prix.. Chiya was praying that she would not run into further predicaments until her shoulder healed. She was lucky in the sense that the bullet failed to penetrate through her bone, and thus, not even a cast was needed to support her arm. She took a deep flesh wound.

The gleeful woman twirled past her room and continued down the hallway with no specific direction. Compared to the previous day, she was in a great mood. Even if the F-Zero committee rejected her plea to join the Grand Prix, she couldn't be upset. She owned a working F-Zero machine and could call herself an F-Zero pilot with pride.

While spinning, Chiya took note of something somewhat surprising to her; there was a door she had yet to enter—even though it was across from her room. The question was raised as to whether she should enter, for this was a room she had not been told about.

There was a feeling of lacking significance while staring at the door, yet, she found herself turning the doorknob. After entering the dark room and turning on the lights, a bedroom was unveiled. The first thing that  shocked her was how much more clean and organized this was than her own. One of the first things she noticed was that the room contained many expensive antique possessions, some military uniforms were hanging to her left. Close observation of the uniform revealed a sewn patch featuring Manchuria and the Korean peninsula. Behind the two land masses were angel wings. The patch had a title, but it was written in Korean. 

She walked toward the bed while holding her chin, trying to figure out who's room she was in. “This must be Seppuku's bedroom…”

Seppuku walked down the hallway and noticed that the door was open. He stomped his foot down and marched into the room, “Dammit, Bendek! I told you to work on-”

Chiya, very alert, spun around, “Earl?”

The tall man was surprised to see her here, “Oh, it's you. Snooping around, as usual. Don't you have anything better you could be doing?”

“I could help Earl with the Red Dove,” she proposed.

“No, you distract Bendek _way_ too much.”

Chiya dipped her head down and frowned. She gathered from this accusation that she bugged Earl too much. The truth of the matter was that she understood and accepted that she always wanted to be near Earl, but had a hard time controlling herself. She continued to contemplate on what to do.

“I don't know what to do. I'm just killing time until tomorrow's race.”

Seppuku sent her a menacing look with crossed arms, “Both you and Bendek will be sneaking guns in this time.”

“What's the point? The committee won't allow violence.”

“The Lightning Area is filled to the brim with crime. There's no way in Hell I'm letting you two go in there without protection.”

“Do we have to worry about having another confrontation at the track?”

Seppuku shook his head, “You two? No. But I've earned myself a few enemies now. Goroh and Blood Falcon may try picking a fight with me after what I pulled.”

“Do you think you could beat them?”

The man took a few moments to think before smirking, “Sand Ocean wasn't representative of my usual toughness. This time, I'll make a pretzel out of the two.”

All of a sudden, the two were surprised to hear the hallway door open. The sound of approaching footsteps could be heard. Seppuku raised an eyebrow while looking at the door in anger.

“Oh for the- Why is Bendek not working?”

Chiya glared at him for asking such a question, finding that he was treating Earl like some kind of slave. To Chiya, Earl was an amazing man for his team devotion and rational thinking; but Seppuku implementing a very harsh authoritarian style of getting work done. Work whenever possible or face punishment was the Seppuku way.

The footsteps were coming closer and an irate Man of Darkness walked toward the door with the intention of lecturing Earl. Upon reaching the door, however, he made a shocking discovery. This was not Earl. Standing before him was a tall muscular man wearing a muscle shirt and the Bloody Chain insignia. The jaws of both men dropped before Seppuku tackled the intruder. Chiya ran to the door and covered her mouth in absolute amazement, she could feel her heart beat at a rapid pace.

Seppuku was wrestling the goon for his shotgun, “How did you find this place!?” he demanded.

The Bloody Chain gangster did not respond, he was focusing on keeping hold of the shotgun. Chiya leapt out the door with her handgun, but instead of shooting the intruder, used her new taser attachment. A bright blue bolt fired off her gun and sent the gangster paralyzed with many blue electric bolts. Seppuku grabbed the shotgun and stood tall over the man. Chiya took aim at the gangster's skull.

“D- Do I kill him!?” she asked frantically.

“No!” shouted Seppuku. Chiya widened her eyes at Seppuku's rare moment of mercy. “You'll get blood all over my floors!”

The Bloody Chain member remained on the floor panting after his shocking encounter with Chiya's taser. Seppuku pinned the man down by placing a foot over the man's wrist.

For the second time, the demand was issued, “How did you find us?”

“Jody Summer... I saw her F-Zero machine here last night...”

Seppuku growled, “That damn bat. She just _ha—ad_ to park in front of the base...”

The Mysterian glared at the gangster, “You're not going to kill Seppuku that easily!”

Seppuku affirmed this with a nod, the goon responded with a laugh. “Michael Chain didn't send us to hunt Seppuku, it would be suicide fighting him in his own base.”

Seppuku raised both brows in shock, “What are you doing here, then?”

The goon threw his arm up into the air and pointed at Chiya, “He ordered us to capture the girl.”

Gasps were expressed by both Chiya and Seppuku. Chiya widened her eyes in absolute shock. “M- Me? Why!?”

The goon beat against his chest, “I would never betray the Bloody Chain…”

Seppuku shot him in the face, killing him on the spot. Chiya had jumped far back the moment he fired and had now opened her envelope of fear. Seppuku felt provoked by his intention to capture Chiya, not caring that he had now made a mess on his own floor. Chiya looked up at him with a puzzled face, confused as to why he had a sudden change of heart toward the criminal.

“Shouldn't we have interrogated him or something along those lines?”

Seppuku clenched his fists while grinding his teeth, “We're out of time…“ Chiya was startled by this response. “The Bloody Chain now know where we operate. It's only a matter of time before they decide to swarm this building by the hundreds...”

Chiya gasped, realizing the pressure they now had. Seppuku was correct; if the Bloody Chain knew the location of their base, nothing would stop Michael Chain from sending a few hundred gang members to assault the base. They were running out of time. Chiya began to bite on her finger while fretting over the situation, the only good news was that Red Star, in all likeliness, didn't have this information, yet.

The Man of Darkness grasped his face and made various disgruntled sounds, “We've run out of time. We're gonna have to push the envelope...”

Chiya remained still with a loyal expression, “What do we do?”

Seppuku rubbed his hands together, “Right after this next race, we need to attack the heart of the Bloody Chain and kill Chain.”

For once, Chiya nodded in heavy approval of the plan to resolve issues through violence. She gave Michael Chain a chance to live, and in return, he ordered his men to find and capture her. As risky as fighting the Bloody Chain head on was, it was the best action they could take at a time like this. The threatening part of the operation was that the Bloody Chain had almost a thousand members. Coming out of the Bloody Chain HQ untouched seemed improbable. Seppuku soon walked away from Chiya and went toward his office. The gang war was about to get much hotter.

“Flower, go get Bendek.”

Chiya nodded and began to tremble. She was wondering how anyone would be able to sleep knowing that an attack could be staged at any moment. Chiya walked down the hallway with her handgun ready to fire.

 

           

 

Chiya and Earl soon found themselves together in Seppuku's office. Both were awaiting orders as Seppuku gave both a solid gaze. He was tapping his fingers down on his desk in frustration.

“Alright, I know this is going to bug Flower, but...” Chiya glared at him, “The only way to ensure our safety for the night is by staying on guard—all night.”

Chiya gasped and got a troubled look on her face, “All night? I can't do that!”

“So you would rather run the risk of Chain's men charging into your room as you sleep?”

The woman's eyes widened after considering this, she was quick to change her mind, “You make a good point.”

Earl pointed forward, “What part of the base will you be watching over?”

“My bed.”

Both Chiya and Earl appeared bothered by this, “What..?” both complained.

Seppuku shrugged, “Okay, I actually mean my desk. I don't sleep in a bed.” He clapped his hands together and quirked his mouth, “My point being; If I don't sleep well tonight, I'll flunk the race tomorrow.”

Chiya was not pleased with this plan, but had to agree with him. If Seppuku wasn't well rested, he would be unable to concentrate on the race. As of this moment, he was doing good in the Grand Prix and had a good shot at winning the one billion credits. It was within the interest of the whole team that Seppuku continues to win races.

“That's not fair,” Earl complained.

But Chiya had a different thought process, “Fine, we'll watch the base for you.”

Earl glanced at Chiya with a surprised face. For once she agreed with Seppuku, no questions asked. Seppuku grinned at Chiya and nodded with respect, Earl soon gave up and nodded at his orders.

Seppuku sat back and went on to explain his plan. “As soon as this race is over, we're going to throw ourselves at the Bloody Chain,” he rubbed his forehead and sighed, “We're out of options…”

“Th- That's suicide,” Earl argued.

The three couldn't stay on guard every single night until a better opportunity arrived, action had to be taken. Chiya knew this to be true, but Earl was having a hard time grasping the entirety of the situation. Seppuku wiped his forehead in frustration, he was showing much more concern than usual. Both Chiya and Earl understood that if Seppuku was showing doubt for a mission, that meant someone could very well die.

All three were silent, the fear of attacking the Bloody Chain was all around the room. Chiya and Earl were fearing for their lives, while Seppuku was more so angry at the desperate situation they found themselves in. He looked up and held the rim of his fedora with a look of doubt.

“If I die in the mission, you two are to retreat and take the two F-Zero machines. Leave this base for good.” Both his associates were stunned by his doubt for survival, he was sitting without motion, “If I die, they win. You two will need to reorganize and continue this operation elsewhere. I recommend the Upper City.”

Chiya rejected this by shaking her head, “Y- You won't die Seppuku, you can't die!”

Seppuku struck his fist down, “Idiot, what do you think I am, the Red Dove?”

Chiya and Earl exchanged brief glances at the mentioning of the Dark Million bird, but both were too concentrated with the situation at hand. The reality of Seppuku dying so early in life was unbearable for Chiya, not to mention she and Earl were at equal risk of getting killed.

Seppuku pointed at Earl, “You'll be the new leader if I die.”

“No way! I'm not bearing that responsibility. If you're out, I'm done.”

Seppuku took this response as both hostile and offensive. He gave Chiya a menacing stare, “I presume cower away as well?”

There was hesitance in her response, but she spoke her mind. “If Earl quits, I'm going to take my F-Zero machine and work on becoming an F-Zero racer.”

Seppuku sighed at the two and spun his chair around so that he could not be seen.

“You two disappoint me.”  The room became quiet, Seppuku showed great disinterest in continuing the conversation. “Get out, the both of you. You have your orders. Either stay up and watch over the base, or cower out and leave me to fight alone. The choice is yours...”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and reached forward, “Seppuku, it's not-”

The Man of Darkness launched himself out of his seat, grabbed a glass cup on his desk, and chucked it at the wall. It shattered into hundreds of small fragments.

“Get out!”

Chiya and Earl honored his order and rushed out the office together. Earl closed the door and moved down the hallway with Chiya. She appeared distraught after their conversation with Seppuku, he seemed very set on the idea that he would be killed, but for some reason expected his companions to survive.

“Earl, you should have at least lied and told him that you'd take over as leader...”

“Chi', I don't have the first clue on how I would go about running an illegal vigilante group. I engineer things, not fight crime. In fact, I don't kill; I don't condone killing.”

Chiya swatted her arms against her waist. She was irritated by Earl, but couldn't find the strength to yell at him; not after all he has done for her. She exhaled to try and let out stress. Earl rubbed his forehead in a bid to calm down as well.

Earl sighed and looked down at the floor, “You mentioned that you'd leave only if I did?”

Chiya clenched her fists angrily, then surprised Earl by blushing, “O- Of course…” she admitted in a soft tone. Earl raised an eyebrow at her, flattered by her intentions of staying on his behalf. “I would leave the Lower City if you left, because, I would be alone again…”

“Again?”

“Seppuku's insane and has almost gotten me- _us_ killed several times…” Chiya dipped her head down with an immense frown, “Yet, being here has brought some of the happiest moments in my entire life.”

Earl had a surprised look on his face, the idea that Chiya actually enjoyed living in the dark base was beyond shocking. “What about your planet, Mysteria?”

Chiya shot him a disturbed expression, “I can't go back!” she panicked out of nowhere. Earl widened his eyes at her critical response, she hadn't answered his question at all. “I don't talk about that. I like to cast my memories there aside, as if I never even lived there.”

The woman's frustration was very visible to Earl, she had started the day happy and gleeful, but was once again in a depressed state. The two entered the lobby, where Earl clenched his fists and looked into Chiya's eyes. She looked deep into his soul for a few seconds, then looked away. He now grinned with the desire to keep her happy.

“If Seppuku dies, you and I can save up for a place in the Upper City. We can start over from there. Except I'll run this organization in a different way than Seppuku has.”

Chiya looked up and smiled, then closed her eyes, “Good. To be honest, I don't know where I would have gone…”

“Don't worry, though. Seppuku won't die, none of us will…”

 

 

             

Hours later, Seppuku was sleeping in his desk. It was far past midnight, Chiya and Earl had resorted to sitting down in the dark lobby with their guns ready. As Seppuku had guessed, Chiya was the weakest of the two and was ready to collapse out of exhaustion. Both had talked about casual things throughout the night and were now sitting still waiting for a situation to break out.

Earl pushed his thumbs together and glanced at Chiya, after making eye contact, he smiled, “So—o, what drove your interest in engines? Why engines?”

“Because I grasped the concept with ease and...” She quirked her mouth and sighed, “I had a lot of experience growing up in engines. My father assigned me to work on the engines of cars we fixed.”

“Your dad was a mechanic?”

Chiya giggled, “No, no. He was a politician.” Earl raised both his eyebrows in shock. Since Mysteria was, for the most part, a single-party planet, this confirmed that Chiya's father was either a socialist or communist politician. “But, you know, we did whatever we could to make the extra money. If someone needed their car fixed, our family acted as a team and got it done.”

“So, you like working with engines because it reminds you of your father?” The woman lowered her eyelids and nodded without a response. She was then surprised to find his hand over hers. “That's interesting, I really like that.”

Chiya looked back and forth between him and their hands. Earl noticed her constant head turning, and thus retracted his hand. Chiya then cleared her throat and rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling.

“I suppose my disability may also play a role in my love for engines.”

This caused Earl to widen his eyes again, “Disability?”

She nodded, “I have autism.”

Earl grunted and faced her with a surprised face, “You're autistic?”

“I have an obsessive behavior when it comes to things I love. Cats, food, F-Zero; things I love, I'll always want to be around, talk about, and so on.”

The man was left scratching his chin and looking deep into her eyes. This time she remained staring at him. “Autism, huh..?” He chuckled and shrugged. “Truth be told, I would have never guessed unless you told me.”

The Mysterian beamed and put her hands together, she was excited knowing that he accepted and tolerated this. But she didn't feel comfortable delving further into this, for she feared that he would treat her different, otherwise.

Chiya looked away and asked, “So, Seppuku was a soldier? Did he fight in any wars?”

“Soldier? Where'd you hear that?”

“I found some uniforms in his bedroom.”

Earl widened his eyes upon hearing this, then looked down and grinned, “ _My_ bedroom,” he corrected.

Chiya faced him with a questioning look, she then realized that it wasn't Seppuku's bedroom situated across from hers, rather, it was Earl's.

“Oh, I'm sorry! I was beginning to think that you just slept in the garage.”

Earl nodded, understanding the misconception, “I wasn't a soldier, though. I was…” He hesitated to answer, but already grabbed Chiya's full attention. “I was a combat engineer...” he soon answered.

“So were you in any wars?”

He nodded, “I fought against a Manchu uprising wanting independence from Korea. They wanted to merge with the United Powers, but we didn't let them…”

Chiya laughed silently as she fought to keep her eyes open, “I have no clue what you're talking about. What's a Manchu?”

The man stretched and prepared to explain, “Well, you see. A long time ago, a communist dictatorship—much like Mysteria—was situated in the northern part of Korea. Before Earth began to unify, they managed to purchase the Chinese region called 'Manchuria'. Not long after, the southern part of Korea unified with the north. So, Korea encompassed both the peninsula and Manchurian land to the north. A few years ago, the Manchu arose in rebellion, seeking to separate Manchuria from Korea.”

Chiya's eyes were spinning in utter confusion, “Uh, okay, hold on. What does Chinese mean, where is Korea and Manchuria, and what is the United Powers?”

Earl laughed, “Doesn't matter, let me answer that last one. The United Powers make up 95% of Earth. Korea and Japan are the last remaining independent nations, mostly for reasons pertaining to F-Zero.” Chiya nodded with her eyes closed, she was trying to understand what he was saying. Earl shrugged, “I never got to see any combat, I just fixed tanks. I only volunteered because working as an engineer in war would make me look good when applying for a job. Plus, it gave me free tuition for college.”

“And in the end, you ended up here...” she spoke in a dull tone.

“I guess you could say it like that, but this job isn't bad. I get paid a lot while protecting the people of the Lower City from gangs.” He brushed her cheek and winked, “Plus, I get to see you every day.”

Chiya crossed her arms and pouted in anger, “Except you're treated like a slave.”

“Not really, he would treat anyone the same way. For some reason he's a lot less strict on you.”

Chiya's eyes then shot open, “Oh God! You don't think he's in love with me, do you!?” she panicked.

Earl's immediate response was to laugh, finding her response so quick and judgmental toward Seppuku.

Chiya fell back against the wall again, taking his laughter as a way of saying 'no _'_.

Earl became silent again and took a brief moment to reminisce his past experiences with Seppuku before Chiya came along. “I've said it before but I'll say it again. Seppuku is weird, but has good intentions. If he could change the world in his image, I'm sure he would turn it into a perfect crime free place, while ruining Jody and Captain Falcon's career while he's at it…” Earl nodded to himself, “If I had to guess, I bet that he expects us to stay in the back during this mission against the Bloody Chain. I bet he intends on doing most of the work himself, just to keep us safe, knowing that we're the only family he has.”

He waited for a response, but was not given one. Soon, he looked down at Chiya and gasped; for she had fallen asleep.

Earl glared at her, “Dammit, I'm going to have to repeat all of that?”

Chiya did not awaken, she departed into a deep slumber. The Mysterian wasn't used to staying up at such a late time. Earl patted her cheeks in an attempt to wake her up, but she showed no intentions of waking up anytime soon. Earl sighed and looked down at the floor, it was early in the morning and not a single gangster had shown up.

“I was hoping you were more of the party type…” Earl admitted to the sleeping Chiya.

He rubbed his eyes while shaking her arm more harder, but he only got frustrated mumbling from her. Earl realized that she was done for. Even if he had gotten her to wake up, she would just be a tired drag and of little help. Earl rubbed his forehead while contemplating to do something that may bother her. He nodded to himself and, with great caution, wrapped his arms around her. He proceeded to lift her up. Her eyes opened into small uneven slits, but she wasn't conscious enough to think with a clear mind.

Earl exited the lobby and walked down the hallway with Chiya secured in his arms. Chiya closed her eyes again and rested her face against his arm; she appeared to accept him carrying her, for she reverted back to a calm slumber. He opened the door to her bedroom and set her down on the bed. After stripping her boots off, he lifted her head up and moved her pillow into a comfortable position. He grabbed her feet and put them together, forced her hands together, and ended the night by tucking her in.

The man chuckled, wondering how he managed to do this without waking her up. He equipped his handgun and walked out of the bedroom, back to the lobby. Earl didn't believe that any attack would be coming, but was prepared to take the risk of defending the base on his own if one were to come. Though he seemed set on the idea that everything would work out, he had to wonder if this was the last night he would ever talk to Chiya and Seppuku.


	20. Lap 20

==Lap 21=

 

“Blimey!”

Chiya awoke and launched her eyes open in shock to find herself in bed. Sitting up, the woman gasped and grunted; she found herself wrapped in her blanket, something she never did herself.

“What the Hell!?” She now came to the realization that, somehow, she had fallen asleep on the job. “Shoot!”

Chiya and Earl were to watch over the base all night, but somehow she ended up sleeping in bed. It was now early in the afternoon and the race was to begin in a few hours. After the race they were to attack the Bloody Chain in a battle that could only have repercussions. The thought of commencing this attack made Chiya sigh while getting out of bed. Her handgun was on a table, where it always was when she woke up; this led her to believe her that she went to bed by herself but couldn't remember doing so. The first moment she opened the door, Earl by holding a cup of coffee.

The woman widened her eyes and proceeded to flap her arms, “Hey!” she greeted in a panicked tone.

Earl came to an immediate stop and turned his head, then revealed a grin, “Sleep well?”

“What happened to me last night?” she demanded.

“You fell asleep in the lobby, so I carried you-” He interrupted himself by coughing, then fabricated a white lie, “You were kind of half asleep, so I walked you to your bedroom.”

Chiya was baffled by this reasoning. She couldn't envision herself betraying Seppuku like this, but felt safe knowing that there was a shared betrayal. Chiya went to sleep and Earl guided her to bed; but in reality, Earl carried her.

The two continued toward Seppuku's office together. Chiya still seemed somewhat depressed about the inevitable battle they would have with Michael Chain. The simple fact that Seppuku was showing doubt toward the concept of victory was what concerned her most, as he always seemed to have a flawless plan thought up. If someone as hardcore and tactful as Seppuku saw improbability, something bad would happen without a doubt.

Earl reached for the doorknob and gulped, Chiya bit her finger with quivering eyes, wondering how Seppuku's mood would be. Earl opened the door with much hesitance, they were surprised to find an empty desk. At the same time, both friends turned their heads and spotted Seppuku standing by the screen on the wall.

“Seppuku,” Earl greeted.

Seppuku turned and waved with a grin, “Hey, guys.”

Chiya gasped in awe. Seppuku had only spoken two words and she could already tell that he was in a better mood. Moments of mutual gazing occurred, and soon the Man of Darkness faced his companions.

“Your report on last night's mission?”

Chiya was prepared to answer this, but Earl did so for her, “Chiya and I remained on guard all night,” he lied.

While Seppuku acknowledged the report with a nod, Chiya found herself staring at Earl in suspicion. For whatever the reason, Earl was lying to make Chiya look good. Though this was a lie, Chiya acknowledged Earl's report by nodding as well.

“Good work, you two.”

Another compliment led Chiya to call him out, “Alright, you haven't said anything mean yet. What's wrong?”

The man chuckled, “Since I got first place last time, I get called up to the starting line first. A major punch to the face for all my rivals.”

From Chiya's perspective, this was very typical of him. His pleasure derived from the anger of others. Chiya somewhat desired to further discuss the plan for attacking Michael Chain, but feared that this would kill his mood and bring back heavy tension.

“Bendek, you'll ride with me in the Red Dove to the Lightning Area.”

Chiya's eyes livened, “How am I supposed to get there?”

The Man of Darkness sent her a finger snap, “You have an F-Zero machine, try and keep up with me,” he challenged.

In almost any rational circumstance, one would tremble at this thought. To the surprise of both Seppuku and Earl, Chiya was not one of these individuals. Instead, she beamed at the concept. She had been so preoccupied with the Bloody Chain issue that she forgot about her now working F-Zero machine. Be as it may, she had concerns.

“Is it really ready to be driven? I mean, is it safe?”

Seppuku tipped his hat to Earl, passing the question onto him. The mechanic answered, “I'm pretty sure. The engine was the first part I installed and I already tested it by driving it out of the garage. You should be good to go.”

Chiya made a sharp whistle, “Alright, then. I could use the practice.” She gave Earl a cute smile, “And it's like you first told me; a racer needs to form an early relationship with their machine.”

Earl was very pleased to find his early advice being considered, but Seppuku had his mind elsewhere. He grabbed Chiya by the shoulder, “Let's make this interesting…”

“I'm afraid to learn what your definition of ' _interesting'_ is…” she admitted.

“If you lose sight of me on the way to the Lightning Area, you'll have to wear a black leather biker jacket for the remainder of the month.”

Chiya cringed at the thought of how she would look, “No way! That's a ridiculous bet!”

“Well, hold on. What if you do manage to stay on me to the end? What will you want from me?”

Now she thought about the wager with a more open mind. Wearing a black biker jacket sounded bad to her, however, she was in a position to make Seppuku do something if she won. A somewhat wicked grin formed at the thought of all the things she could do to him, but decided to go easy on him.

“If I win... all three of us have to do something fun—like go swimming!”

Earl nodded in approval, but Seppuku trembled at the sound of this, “Swimming? Now what the Hell kind of fun can you acquire by surrounding yourself in water?”

“It's relaxing and can be lots of fun. what do you think ' _fun'_ is, anyway?”

Earl gritted his teeth and widened his eyes at her question. Seppuku smacked his fists together and grinned.

“'Fun' is giving criminals the option to dance for me in place of getting shot…”

Chiya sighed, “Ah, of course…”

 

 

 

Now in the garage, Seppuku stood by the _Red Dove_ and was giving Chiya some bidding words.

“Remember, Flower. You have a booster, but don't use it unless you're in real danger. It isn't easy finding a restoration pad outside of a track.”

Chiya nodded, but she already knew not to boost outside of a racetrack. She climbed aboard the F-Zero machine named the ' _Purring Kitten'_ with the intention of driving it for the first time. The machine had yet to be painted and was for now a dull shade of gray. The machine would suffice for the time being, for she wasn't racing as of yet.

 Looking over at Seppuku's machine, she gazed at Earl as he boarded the machine. She then looked at the cockpit of her machine. Despite that her machine was larger than Seppuku's, the cockpit was much smaller. _I wish mine could fit two people…_

The _Red Dove_ powered on and waited for the _Purring Kitten_ to power on as well. Chiya explored her finished dashboard for all of the essential pieces, then turned on her machine with pride. At this moment she had achieved a milestone—a working F-Zero machine was now in her possession. Now, she had the wager on her mind. She grinned at the _Red Dove_ , waiting for it to depart. _All I need to do is stay on his rear. Very simple…_

All of a sudden, the _Red Dove_ blasted off at top speed. Chiya gasped, “What the Hell, we're in a city!”

She began her pursuit of Seppuku, who was driving very fast down the streets. One needn't doubt that police would feel provoked if they caught the two driving at such a speed. The _Red Dove_ made its way down the streets of the Lower City at top speed, Chiya remained close behind him. She was already learning a few things about her machine; namely, differences between this and Seppuku's machine. The _Purring Kitten_ 's body was much larger and thus made turns more difficult. Along with this, Chiya's engine was not as efficient as his. Getting a new engine of better quality would be within her best interests in the future.

Citizens began to emerge out of buildings to watch the two machines chase each other, the general assumption being that Chiya was a new gangster on the streets rivaling Seppuku.

Seppuku was grinning as he tried to outrun Chiya, Earl looked at him with a discontent face, “Come on man, don't be such an ass. What are you trying to do, ruin F-Zero for her before she even gets a chance?”

The Man of Darkness had a serious look, “If I lose this wager, that'll make me a loser. I'm not a loser, I'm a winner.”

Chiya was afraid to pick up the speed because they were already breaking the law. She knew that they would become the center of attention once they reach the Upper City. Chiya was becoming frustrated but managed to keep up with him, it was clear to her that Seppuku was trying his hardest to outrun her. She presumed that the bet he made was more of a joke at first, knowing that she would keep up with him; but now she understood that he was in all actuality trying to crush her.

To make matters far worse, Chiya glimpsed up at a rooftop and gasped at the sight of Red Star gang members. One of them pulled out a rocket launcher and took aim at the two machines.

“Look out!” she yelled to herself.

Red Star began to fire rockets in front of them, leaving smoke and debris all over the street. Despite this occurrence, the _Red Dove_ continued driving at full speed.

Earl was trembling in fear and amazement, then glared at Seppuku, “What the Hell! We're being shot at and all you can think about is beating Chiya, our friend!?”

Seppuku did not respond. To his surprise, however, the _Purring Kitten_ came bolting out of the smoke and flames in her continuing pursuit.

“Don't worry,” Seppuku smirked. “I think she and I are on the same page”

Before the Red Star soldier could reload his launcher, the two machines went out of sight. He looked at his partner who was preparing another rocket for him, “Who was in that other F-Zero machine?” The other man shrugged, choosing not to respond. “Whoever it is, clearly is out to get Seppuku…”

Chiya could see the slope leading to the Upper City and wondered if Seppuku planned on slowing down. He showed no intention of doing so. _This wanker's going to get all three of us arrested…_ The two machines drove up the slope and proceeded down the the Upper City street. Normal cars began to pull over as the two hogged the road. Chiya began to tremble and prepared for trouble to emerge at any moment.

She took a moment to look over her surroundings. Hundreds of pedestrians dropped what they were doing to watch the two F-Zero machines drive at full speed. What came to her as a surprise was that many of them appeared to be cheering for the two, finding entertainment out of this. She was then caught off guard by a parked police cruiser to the side of the road. However, she was stunned to find that the officers stood around cheering, leaping, and going out of control. Even the police were finding this amusing. _They're okay with us breaking the law—just because it's F-Zero..?_

Chiya then came to the conclusive reality of the situation. She was invincible. If the police wouldn't stop her, no one would. People were cheering at her as well, believing that this was a street race, but all that was required to win the bet was to _keep up_ with the _Red Dove_. It was at that moment Chiya felt a burst of energy go through her body, and so she grinned. She obtained the urge that all F-Zero racers wished to possess when racing.

Seppuku grinned at Earl, “We're getting some real attention. They're probably scaring our little girl to pieces,” he said with a laugh.

Both Seppuku and Earl then jolted up in fear at the sight of something; Chiya had just bumped into Seppuku's side in a gentle fashion and pushed him aside. She then took off ahead of him.

“Wh- What..?” Seppuku murmured.

Chiya had turned on her GPS and set a waypoint to the Lightning Area, she was now the leading driver of this wager.

While Seppuku was left grunting in awe, Earl began to laugh, “Well, how about this. Looks like she wants to race you, now.”

A few more moments of shock ensued before Seppuku began to laugh, “This is why I wanted her to join our team…”

Seppuku accepted Chiya's challenge with great reluctance and pursued the _Purring Kitten_. Chiya had an adrenaline rush, now holding every intention of beating Seppuku to the Lightning Area. Her teeth were gritted with an offering of challenge, she was fired up and ready to win this F-Zero duel. Far ahead they would be turning onto a bridge that stretched out several miles, this led to the Lightning Area.

The _Red Dove_ was trailing the _Purring Kitten_ in a heated race, and the people of Mute City did not object. Chiya still had a prideful look on her face, feeling that she could pull this wager off on a positive note. Still, Seppuku was gaining on her and was close to pushing the rear of the _Purring Kitten_. Chiya glanced back at the _Red Dove_ , then blocked its path on purpose. Seppuku fired a violent growl toward her for not letting him pass, then chuckled in respect.

“I didn't think she had it in her,” he muttered with admiration.

Seppuku was tapping his chin in contemplation of what to do. The _Purring Kitten_ was picking up more speed and thus further evading Seppuku. At this point, Chiya was gaining much more ground away from the _Red Dove_. Seppuku growled again and made a mindless decision. He flipped open a lid on his steering wheel and put his finger on a red button. Before pressing it, Earl chuckled in a mocking manner. Seppuku turned his head with a vicious expression.

“What?”

“You're about to use your booster...” Earl chuckled once more. “How tragic and humiliating...”

Seppuku understand what he was implying. Chiya could not use her boosters because finding a restoration pad would be too difficult, plus, he told her not to do so. The fact that Seppuku even considered using his boosters was an embarrassment. His finger trembled on the button, but he ended up closing the lid, for he did not want to lose prestige in the eyes of Chiya and Earl.

The _Red Dove_ picked up speed and got closer to the _Purring Kitten_. His progress was cut short as they drove down a slope, the _Purring Kitten_ moved down the road at a much faster speed due to the heavier weight. Seppuku grunted in frustration and slammed his fist down on the dashboard. Earl soon gasped at Seppuku after noticing something unusual; Seppuku was beginning to panic. Earl could tell this much because of the twitching white eyes on his visor. Seppuku was gaining fatigue by the second, the thought of losing a race to the likes of someone like Chiya was humiliating to him.

The long bridge connecting the two parts of the city was coming up to their left. No matter how far the two drove, people stood watching in amazement, Chiya could only smile because of this. If the Grand Prix were anything like this, she would be even more inspired to become a racer. The thought of there being a fan base dedicated to her one day seemed far-fetched but very possible.

The two machines turned onto the bridge that was up ahead. Seppuku took up the opportunity and made a sharp left turn onto the bridge, this allowed him to pass Chiya at long last. The _Purring Kitten_ now trailed the _Red Dove_ , but the bridge would stretch out for a few miles and give her many opportunities to regain the lead. An F-Zero machine could go more than 1,000 km/h if pushed to the very limit without boosters. Chiya gritted her teeth with nervousness now that the _Red Dove_ gained the lead, passing Seppuku would be a challenge since it was a straight drive down the bridge. The bridge was wide enough to fit about ten vehicles, and thus had much room for passing.

Seppuku looked back at the _Purring Kitten_ , Chiya was trying very hard to regain the lead on the _Red Dove_ , “She had a good run, but there's no way she'll pass me at this point.”

Chiya looked for an answer to her predicament. She knew that using her booster was out of the question, and ramming the _Red Dove_ would affect Seppuku's chances of winning the Grand Prix if she damaged it on accident. She looked down at her dashboard finding that the only thing she could do would be to increase the maximum speed, but this would increase the temperature and risk an overheated engine. At the end of the bridge the road would turn into a deep slope, this would be the main opportunity she could use. If she were to turn her speed up to maximum and turn on the airbrakes—used for gliding—she could perhaps glide over the _Red Dove_.

The two continued driving down the bridge, the _Red Dove_ wasn't prepared to surrender an inch to the _Purring Kitten_. Seppuku returned to his calm state, now believing that the race was within his grasp for good, for the Lightning Area was at the end of the bridge. The original wager was about keeping up with him. Seppuku underestimated Chiya, as not only did she keep up with him—but she was racing him and providing a challenge. Chiya sat back trying to calm down, she knew that nothing would change on the bridge, she would have to rely on changes with the road if she were to beat him. Pressure was added with the fact that the Lightning Area was only a short bit away. Accomplishing her plan of gliding would be one of the only ways she could regain the edge on Seppuku, but the plausibility of success was nothing short from a gamble.

Seppuku snickered, “Just watch, as soon as we hit the end of the bridge, we'll need to slow down; but she'll slow down much more than us. That I'm sure of.”

Earl pondered whether what he said was true, he was implying that Chiya would almost come to a full stop as they approach the slope, given how cautious of a person she is in contrast to Seppuku.

The two approached the end of the bridge, the slope was in front of them. Seppuku grinned and said, “Farewell, Chiya Flower.”

The _Red Dove_ slowed down, now going only half the maximum speed. Chiya did not slow down, however. She turned her engine up to maximum and gritted her teeth with nervousness. She flipped on the airbrakes as she moved onto the slope. The immediate effect was that she flew off the slope as if it were a runway.

Seppuku looked back and could no longer see the _Purring Kitten_ , and thus he began to laugh, “Wow! I knew she'd slow down, but I didn't think she'd come to a full stop. What a coward-”

The _Purring Kitten_ then landed far ahead of the _Red Dove_. She dropped the speed back down to avoid overheating. She had nearly flown into a building, but managed to prevent this from happening by perfecting a turn. Seppuku and Earl gasped at what had just happened, the _Purring Kitten_ glided over their heads. Seppuku remained trembling in amazement, she was too far ahead of him now—this race was over.

Chiya drove past various cheering citizens, they made it to the Lightning Area. The sky was black, storming, and pouring constant rain. Chiya smiled and looked back at the _Red Dove_ , she then drove down the street with the track's parking lot in sight. Seppuku said nothing, accepting defeat with a blank expression. Earl was rooting for Chiya but remained silent, not wanting to further provoke his boss.

Chiya parked the _Purring Kitten_ , the _Red Dove_ soon drove up next to her with the cockpit opening. Earl jumped out of the machine and approached her. Chiya walked around her machine and looked at Seppuku, waiting for an initial response to her victory over him. Seppuku grinned at her and tilted his head.

“You did fairly good, but don't get too excited. We weren't even using our boosters.” Earl grunted with a grin, finding Seppuku's comment very typical. “Now, I need to go prepare. I'm being called up, first!” he gloated.

The _Red Dove_ drove away from the two, leaving Chiya and Earl in the rain. It was dark in the Lightning Area, yet, almost always lit up because of the lightning flashes that occurred every few seconds.

“Seppuku was mad!” Earl commented.

Chiya grunted in shock, “I didn't mean to offend him..!”

Earl chuckled, “No, he loves what you did. But I could tell that he felt humiliated losing to you.”

Chiya smiled at him. While it was true that she had beaten Seppuku in a race, what he said was also true; if they had used their boosters the outcome may have been much different.

“Very clever how you put the finishing blow on him. Risky, but very tactical of you.”

“It was one of my last resorts,” she admitted.

Earl began walking toward the door of the building, wanting to get out of the rain. Chiya followed him, then widened her eyes after remembering Seppuku's order that he wanted the two to sneak their guns into the race. She had forgotten her gun in her bedroom and Earl didn't appear to have his with him. She decided not to mention it, bidding on the idea that they would come out of the Lightning Area without trouble.

Chiya walked alongside Earl and looked up into the sky, “I have faith we'll get through the Bloody Chain...” Earl turned his head and grinned. She put on a glimmering smile and nodded. “We have destiny on our side...”


	21. Lap 21

==Lap 22=

 

Chiya and Earl were now inside their private booth. Since the booth was in the form of a bunker, the rain could not get them. Both were very thankful for this blessing. There were thin sheets above the track that covered the audience to an extent, but would still fail to keep all of the rain from coming in. The unreal crime rate in the Lightning Area persuaded the F-Zero committee not to work on a better system for keeping rain out; the risk of workers being attacked during construction was too high.

Once again, Chiya sat on the couch and watched the screen, “Who do you think will win this one?”

“To be honest, I think Blood Falcon might have this one. I'm sure he practices here quite often,” he explained.

Chiya nodded, “At least Samurai Goroh lost the Grand Prix.”

Earl displayed a sudden look of doubt, “Don't be so sure of that. If Goroh ranks well today, he very well could win the Grand Prix.”

She considered this fact with a quirked mouth before responding, “You're right. Why didn't Seppuku make a new plan?” she asked somewhat panicked.

“He has other things to worry about. I'm sure he'll deal with Goroh if given the chance.”

Chiya continued to hold a grudge against Goroh ever since he attempted to take Earl's life on the way to Sand Ocean, she didn't seem prepared to let this go anywhere in the near future.

Earl grabbed the television remote and put on 'F-Zero TV', the official committee network. The two proceeded to watch as a live pre-race discussion with the two usual commentators came on. Earl smirked with a nervous face, knowing that Lieutenant Seppuku was going to be a topic in the discussion.

The commentator kicked off the show. “So, here we are again at Lightning, Mute City. What do you think this race will bring us?”

“Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon will face off again, that much we know. The fact the two have yet to kill each other has led to many conspiracies that they may not be actual rivals, but are doing this for the publicity,” the other man answered.

His partner chuckled, “Well, we do know that Blood Falcon is a legitimate criminal. So this couldn't possibly all be for show.”

Chiya turned her head, “Why are all the other racers not doing much?'

“Fatigue and morale,” Earl answered. “Most of them realize pretty early on that they're not going to win the Grand Prix after the first few races. So, those who are doing really bad right not needn't waste their money on fuel and repairs.”

“Surely there's still reason to race, though…”

“Of course there is.” Earl pointed his finger up like an instructor, “It's still a good time to gain fans and fight rivals.”

The screen now displayed photos of Lieutenant Seppuku, Dr. Stewart, Antonio Guster, and Mighty Gazelle. This was when Earl gulped and became nervous. He feared that Seppuku would be criticized for a multitude of reasons.

The commentator uncorked the question, “How about that quadruple alliance we saw last race?”

“I caught up with Mighty Gazelle after that race and he informed me that Lieutenant Seppuku was the pack leader. What was strange about this alliance was that Antonio Guster and Dr. Stewart worked alongside one another. Last I checked, the Federation doesn't work alongside criminals,” he joked.

“So do you expect to see this alliance again today?”

“Uh, maybe... probably. The only doubt I have is whether Guster and Stewart will continue working together. One of the two may leave the alliance.”

Chiya turned toward Earl, “But the alliance is now void, right?”

“Yeah, he only wanted the help in Sand Ocean against Goroh. The alliance is no more.”

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Seppuku was leaning against the _Red Dove_ watching the same TV program. He was doing so inside of a track garage. Seppuku could hear someone approaching from behind, he assumed it was Samurai Goroh and thus tensed up. To his surprise, it was the complete opposite from Goroh. Antonio Guster approached Seppuku with a very authoritarian face.

“So, Seppuku. About our alliance…”

“It's void.”

“Wh- What!?”

“Void. Dead. Zip.”

Guster stomped his foot down, “But the risk of Goroh winning is still at large!”

Seppuku shrugged, “I can't focus on Goroh every race, he isn't my nemesis. We just had a period of slight tension and misunderstanding.”

Guster faked a chuckle, “I threw that race so Goroh would be eliminated! I'm calling in my favor from you and-”

Seppuku mocked Guster's threat with a laugh and hand swipe, “Favor? What favor? I didn't ask you to run into that landmine. The way I see it, you sacrificed your chances at the Grand Prix for beautiful revenge against _your_ rival. If you're looking for me to kiss you on the cheek, you'll be disappointed.”

The former pirate was at a loss for words. Seppuku stated on Sand Ocean that the alliance would disband, but Goroh came to believe that Seppuku might consider a permanent alliance. Now, Seppuku was content taking 1st place and leaving said alliance.

“I get you 1st place and now you betray me!?”

“We were never friends. We shared a common enemy at the time, but now my objective is to win the Grand Prix.” He snapped his fingers at Guster, “And I didn't 'betray' you. The term of our alliance expired. That's all.”

Guster shook his clenched fist at Seppuku, “Damn you! Don't expect any hospitality from me on the track!”

“M'kay, bye.”

Guster persisted on shaking his fist with an aggressive face, then marched out the garage in a fury. Seppuku offered no attention to the steaming mad thug. F-Zero was the game of surprises, heartbreak, and drama. Thus, Seppuku saw no injustice in his action to break the alliance. Guster gave him 1st place and in return was left in the dust.

           

 

 

Chiya remained seated with Earl on the couch trying to relax. The fear of the upcoming battle with the Bloody Chain was still the primary topic of concern, this was keeping her from enjoying the race. She felt a little more calm about the situation, however, for both Earl and Seppuku seemed to have calmed down compared to the first day. The calmness of these two played a great influence on her own level of calmness.

Earl raised an eyebrow as the screen flashed an emergency report, Chiya's eyes opened in surprise. This was her first time ever seeing an F-Zero emergency report.

A commentator pointed his fingers up with a serious face and explained, “We've just been informed by the committee of a last minute surprise. In a surprising turn of events, it would appear that Michael Chain has returned to the Grand Prix.”

Chiya and Earl gasped, caught off guard by this very sudden report. Chiya sat up straight with clenched fists, “But he can't win the Grand Prix, he has a total of zero points!”

Unlike Chiya, Earl didn't appear too surprised, “This isn't good. He might have rejoined for another reason…” Chiya looked at him with trembling eyes. “He rejoined to finish what he started with Seppuku.”

“Y- You mean, Chain is back just so he can try killing Seppuku?”

Earl affirmed this theory with a nod, Chiya sat back watching the broadcast in complete shock. Her eyes were quivering at the image of Michael Chain.

 

 

 

Seppuku was clapping his hands and chuckling in excitement at the television screen, “So, you desire an early death...” Seppuku muttered to Chain's image.

This was a golden opportunity for Seppuku. Killing Chain on the track could deal slight damage to his reputation, however, this would be an immediate solution to the dilemma they found themselves in. Killing Chain on the track was an action that even the Federation would applaud. Taking out time to kill Chain may hurt his chances of getting 1st place again, but the payoff of being done with Chain for good was enough to convince Seppuku that he had to prioritize smashing the _Wild Boar_.

The track announcer then shouted, “Welcome to the fourth race of the annual Grand Prix. At this time, we will introduce the racers!”

Seppuku grinned, “Party time.”

He jumped in the _Red Dove_ and strapped himself in. This was a proud moment for him as he had taken 1st place for the first time, and thus would be called up first. The garage door opened on its own, alerting Seppuku to begin driving. He stomped his foot down on the accelerator and rushed onto track. Countless F-Zero fans cheered on his appearance, and so he grinned while driving down the track.

“The man of kindness and friendship, always there to lend a helping hand to others, Lieutenant Seppuku!”

Seppuku's grin dropped at that moment, he trembled in rage at this introduction—Chiya's introduction, “Someone's room is getting torched tonight…” he muttered.

The _Red Dove_ drove up to the starting line, where Seppuku proceeded to look up at his private booth hoping to see Chiya's face. Chiya and Earl walked up to the front of the booth and looked down toward the starting line.

“Does he look mad?” asked Earl.

Chiya popped her head out of the booth to get a better look inside the _Red Dove_ , “He's looking up at us.” She squinted her eyes with puckered lips, “He's doing something with his hand...” She then widened her eyes and gritted her teeth. “Oh, yeah, he's mad…”

The announcer continued to call up the racers. Captain Falcon came next, Blood Falcon, and Jody Summer. Seppuku glanced at the _Blue Falcon_ , Captain Falcon did not appear to be exiting his machine. However, when looking to his right, Seppuku spotted Blood Falcon approaching the _Red Dove_. A curious eyebrow was raised by the Man of Dark. This pre-race meeting would gain some publicity, no doubt.

Seppuku opened his cockpit and stepped out of his machine, waiting for Blood Falcon to meet up with him. Captain Falcon glanced over at Seppuku and noticed the confrontation that was about to occur. In response, he opened his cockpit and prepared to intervene Blood Falcon stood in front of Seppuku while grinning with sharp teeth.

“I underestimated you, Red Dove. Perhaps you would help me take care of Captain Falcon?” Blood Falcon proposed.

Seppuku crossed his arms, “Sounds good. The only problem is that the only person I hate more than Captain Falcon—is you.”

Blood Falcon shook his head, “Whatever. I plan on killing you after I deal with Falcon, anyway.”

His attempt to frighten Seppuku was a total miss. Both men were of similar height and had dark expressions; this made the two perfect rivals—both even wore scarves, Seppuku's being red while Blood Falcon's was gold.

“How's Black Shadow been doing, anyway?” asked Seppuku.

“Why don't you stop by and say hello?” Blood Falcon challenged.

“I would, but I have a very tight schedule of not doing that.”

Captain Falcon approached Blood Falcon from behind, “So, you're working with space pirates now, Blood Falcon?”

Blood Falcon gritted his teeth with a grin, “Hell, no. I was just playing around on Sand Ocean, you know, having some fun.”

To make matters more tension filled, Jody approached the group and offered her immediate flak, “Dr. Stewart isn't helping you this time, Lieutenant,” she said in a hostile way.

“I know that. I didn't plan on teaming up with anyone this time.”

Captain Falcon grinned, “You should avoid alliances, they take the sport out of F-Zero.”

Seppuku raised his finger to speak, but Blood Falcon pushed him aside and got in front of Captain Falcon.

“I'm going to kill you, Falcon!”

Captain Falcon released a long sigh, then poked his clone rival, “Hey, uh, can I speak with you over there for a moment?”

The two Falcons departed for a private conversation. Blood Falcon walked away with a grin and clenched fists.

Seppuku grasped his face and sighed, “Jody, as much as I hate to do this... I'm wondering if you would like to help me take care of Michael Chain now that he's back in the race?”

Jody stood motionless, surprised by Seppuku's request for assistance. Nonetheless, she showed her disapproval in assisting the man. “I don't think so, Lieutenant. I was under the assumption that you had the situation under control.”

“Chain's goons located our base while you were so kind to visit. So, either I kill him here, or my two associates and I are going to throw our cards down on the table and fight him at his base.”

Jody grunted, “Suicide.”

Seppuku growled, “I thought we were on the same team to _some_ extent.”

This was true and even Jody knew it. Thus, she nodded with a shrug, “Fine, I won't give you direct assistance, but I'll go on the offensive if he begins to make a move on the track. I'm focusing on this _race_.”

“Good,” he tipped his fedora and returned to the _Red Dove_ , about half of the racers were now on the track.

 

 

 

Chiya searched around the small kitchen in the booth, she found some drinks inside of a refrigerator and returned to the viewing area of the booth. Earl stood watching the F-Zero machines move up to the startling line. Both Chiya and Earl were hoping that Seppuku would manage to kill Michael Chain on the track. This was a very dark wish, but necessary so they could avoid fighting him on their own. It was easy for the two to assume that Seppuku planned on dealing with Chain on the track.

A little bit later, almost all racers were on the track. All that remained were the ones who had been knocked out of the previous race. “F-Zero legend and notorious pirate leader, Samurai Goroh!” Many of the fans booed the man whose reputation declined by the day.

“The desert rat and convict, Antonio Guster!” the _Green Panther_ drove up beside the _Fire Stingray_.

“The cyborg and a fan favorite, Mighty Gazelle!” Gazelle was cheered on to a great extent, being a favorite to many.

“And returning to the track for revenge, Michael Chain!” Many booed the _Wild Boar_ , for Michael Chain had lost the respect of many this Grand Prix.

“At this time, the racers may start their engines!”

Chiya gulped and tugged on her collar. Seppuku had a few racers on his bad side this time, and even Blood Falcon appeared to be keeping an eye on him. The big question was whether or not Seppuku would go as far as throwing the race to finish off Michael Chain. Defeat Chain and cancel their plan to attack the Bloody Chain HQ. The time for action was here.

Three. Two. One. Go!

All the racers took off with the _White Cat_ passing everyone for the lead. The _Red Dove_ started the race off by blocking both the _Blue Falcon_ and _Blood Hawk_ from each other. Blood Falcon saw this as a provocative action and rammed thus rammed Seppuku. To counter Blood Falcon's light attack, Seppuku curved around the _Blue Falcon_. The _Blue Falcon_ got the initial strike on the _Blood Hawk_ , sending him against the safety railing. The _Crazy Bear_ and _Wild Goose_ passed him as a result.

Guster was keeping Goroh far in the back of the other racers by fighting him. Goroh returned the compliment by making a rough dash at the _Green Panther_ 's side. The _Wild Boar_ passed the two and was making its way up the track. Goroh chased the _Wild Boar_ and disregarded Guster's aggression.

Seppuku looked back and could see the _Wild Boar_ in the back with the other racers. The _Crazy Bear_ and _Blood Hawk_ passed him while he was distracted. They were coming up on an area of the track where the track would be separated into two lanes with a blockade separating the two. Seppuku chose to go down the lane that Blood Falcon didn't choose. The _Blood Hawk_ and _Crazy Bear_ were alone together in one lane; Jody and Captain Falcon in the other. In a moment of random aggression, the _Blood Hawk_ side attacked the _Crazy Bear_ and knocked it onto its side. The F-Zero machine slid a few more meters before becoming immobilized, thus retiring Dr. Clash from the race.

An F-Zero commentator smacked his hands down, “The Crazy Bear is knocked out of the race by the Blood Hawk! This will make going down that lane dangerous with an F-Zero machine stuck on the track.”

Seppuku looked back yet again at the _Wild Boar_ , which was getting close, but not close enough where he would slow down to fight Chain. At this time the racers began to complete their first lap, thus authorizing boost power. The _Blood Hawk_ boosted up toward the _Blue Falcon_ , Seppuku was going to continue on without using boost power until Michael Chain got closer.

Chiya rubbed her chin while thinking about what might happen, “How hard will he need to hit Chain to kill him?”

Earl sighed, “To be honest, I doubt it'll happen. He would need to really destroy his machine if he has any hope of killing him on impact.”

Seppuku grinned as the _Wild Boar_ came closer, almost in range for an attack. “A little bit closer, Chain…”

This opportunity to attack Chain was lost, however, as the _Fire Stingray_ came boosting forward, ramming the _Wild Boar_ back a few racers. Goroh planned on getting to Seppuku before Chain. The _Wild Goose_ passed the _Red Dove_ , making its way up to the top three racers. Seppuku was just as ready to fight the _Fire Stingray_ if needed, but was not hoping to do so. His priority target was Michael Chain, not Goroh. The _Fire Stingray_ was gaining on the _Red Dove_ ; not only this, but the _Wild Boar_ managed to boost up by the _Fire Stingray_ again. Seppuku was concerned about keeping up with the other racers, but taking down Chain was his primary goal. Seppuku was still in 5th place.

The _Wild Boar_ boosted around the _Fire Stingray_ and was coming toward the _Red Dove_ at full speed _._ The time was now, Seppuku slowed down to allow the _Wild Boar_ access to him. Seppuku began to chuckle as the two racers became neck and neck. Both racers began to slide toward the other to attack, but were then separated by the track divider. The _Wild Boar_ was now driving down the opposite lane, but the _Fire Stingray_ trailed close to the rear. A mysterious occurrence then occurred for Seppuku as Chain boosted down his lane.

Earl gasped and widened his eyes, Chiya looked at him and asked, “What?”

“Goroh and Chain, they're about to box him in!”

Chiya looked at the situation with better attention and was quick to spot what he meant. As soon as the lanes would merge together again, the _Wild Boar_ and _Fire Stingray_ will have trapped him from both ends. Even boosting could not get Seppuku out of this one.

Seppuku was quick in searching for a solution to getting out of the mess but could find none. Chain and Goroh were indirectly working together with a common goal. Seppuku maneuvered around the crashed _Crazy Bear_ and was about to enter the merged track. The _Wild Boar_ slowed down and prepared to do a massive attack on the _Red Dove_ as soon as it exited the lane. Meanwhile, the _Fire Stingray_ was beginning to push the back of the _Red Dove._ He was almost out of options and was being forced to go faster because of Goroh's pushing. As a last resort, Seppuku performed a spin attack and continued toward the blocking gang leader. Both the _Fire Stingray_ and _Wild Boar_ had been knocked aside, however, several racers passed him along with fair damage inflicted to the machine. Seppuku didn't hit the _Wild Boar_ very hard but would need to regain his position in the race before trying anything again.

Chiya slammed her fists down, “Dammit, why did Goroh have to interfere!?”

Earl didn't respond, he was biting his finger in a nervous way, for the race was not going in Seppuku's favor at this point. Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon had not fought each other yet, rather, they were racing each other for once.

The final lap arrived and the _Red Dove_ was still behind by quite a bit. Nevertheless, he was making his way to the other racers. Seppuku was being pressured to ignore Michael Chain if he had any intentions of winning the race at this point. The _Fire Stingray_ flew past Seppuku, placing himself up in 8th. Seppuku boosted toward him in retaliation and bumped into several racers in the process. Chain was not doing a good job keeping up with any of the other racers, and so it was becoming clear that he would not be killed this race.

The _Fire Stingray_ rammed the _Golden Fox_ out of the way in a bid to keep up with the other racers. The _Red Dove_ momentarily drove past the _Golden Fox_ as well. Seppuku was now feeling obliged to beat up Goroh instead of Chain.  Seppuku was in 7 th place and Goroh in 6th, the _Wild Goose_ was just ahead of them.

A commentator released a sharp whistle and explained, “If things continue to go this way, we're going to have one exciting conclusion to this year's Grand Prix!”

“At this point, the one who takes it all could be Captain Falcon, Blood Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Lieutenant Seppuku, or even Jody Summer,” the other responded.

Chiya clenched her fists together at the sight of the _Fire Stingray_ making a steady comeback. It seemed that Seppuku was to finish in the top six of the overall ranking, but if he could get first place again he could very well seal the deal on winning the Grand Prix. At the moment, it seemed that the _White Cat_ was defending the _Blue Falcon_ from the _Blood Hawk_.

The three racers were split up by the divided lanes, the _White Cat_ and _Blue Falcon_ were in the same lane, the _Blood Hawk_ watched them from the other. Jody was too distracted on the _Blood Hawk_ that she hadn't noticed Captain Falcon's quick drift to the side. Before she realized what was going on, Jody had crashed into the _Crazy Bear_. The _Fire Stingray_ and _Red Dove_ drove past her, she was quick in returning to the race and followed the _Red Dove_ from a close distance. The _Blood Hawk_ and _Blue Falcon_ returned to combating one other, one of the two were going to take 1 st place.

Captain Falcon was about to boost to Blood Falcon's side and side attack, but by complete surprise, the _Fire Stingray_ came boosting between the two and sent the _Blue Falcon_ spinning. The _Red Dove_ passed the _Blue Falcon_ in an attempt to stop the _Fire Stingray_.

The finish line was coming up, Seppuku could see a golden opportunity to knock both racers out in one attack by slamming the _Fire Stingray_ into the _Blood Hawk_. He initiated the attack by side attacking the _Fire Stingray_ , but the _Blood Hawk_ had boosted away from the two just in time, thus jeopardizing Seppuku's plan. Seppuku growled and aborted the attack. Blood Falcon proceeded to take 1 st place, Seppuku 2nd, Goroh 3rd, and Captain Falcon 4th.

“Damn...” Seppuku cursed.

Chiya sighed, “Well, that's over with…”

On a more positive note, Earl argued, “He took second. That's going to give him great chances of winning the Grand Prix.”

This was dismissed, and Chiya continued to complain, “Not only did Chain survive, but now we have to worry about Samurai Goroh winning the Grand Prix...”

Earl nodded with a sigh, “I guess...”

 

 

A while later, Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku stood together in the booth. “We need to get home, pronto. We can waste no time. Considering Chain is here right now, maybe we can catch him by his HQ,” Seppuku explained.

Chiya nodded with a frown, “Yes, sir…”

Seppuku recognized her sad eyes, but there was nothing left he could do. This was going to go down whether she liked it or not. “Earl and I will drive home. Don't hold up, Flower.”

The two walked out of the booth, Chiya remained still in fear of what might happen. Seeing as to how she was the weakest of the three, she could envision herself getting taken down right away. There was no time to moan over this, however; the best they could do would be to get the surprise attack on Chain by attacking as soon as they got home.

 

 

The _Red Dove_ already left for home, Chiya climbed aboard the _Purring Kitten_ for her second time. Even when faced with impending doom, she remained overjoyed at having an F-Zero machine. She turned her machine on and drove away. She was not going to risk going full speed, for she was not street racing with anyone this time and didn't want to push her luck with the police. She had her GPS set to take her back to the base. People still gazed at her machine in amazement, despite the fact that it was unpainted and an unregistered racing machine.

It wasn't until reaching the long bridge that she began to pick up speed. An immediate occurrence happened, though, as a quick moving light trailed her, but she couldn't make out what it was. It appeared to be moving toward her somehow much faster, a clear indicator of what was behind her.

“That's no regular car…” she muttered aloud, realizing that the only thing that could match an F-Zero machine's speed was, indeed, another F-Zero machine.

 Moments after realizing what was following her, she was able to identify which F-Zero machine was behind her—it was the _Wild Boar._

Chiya felt a shock go through her body, as she did not have any weapon with her nor a combat module installed. She was going to have to confront him one way or another, but it was clear that he was going to catch her. Ultimately, Chiya came to a complete stop and opened her cockpit. The woman gulped as the _Wild Boar_ began to slow down beside her machine. Chain had gotten his opportunity for a rematch.


	22. Lap 22

==Lap 23=

 

Chiya stood beside the _Purring Kitten_ , Michael Chain had stopped his machine and was marching toward her. He had no weapon, nor did Chiya. Chain had an excited look on his face as he came toward the young woman who stood with a brave gaze. Chain began to beat his fists together while moving closer to her; Chiya began to step away, fearing that he may beat her up. He stopped a few meters from her and crossed his arms with a smirk. It didn't take long for Chiya to regret her decision to stop her machine, for her sole method of escape would be to drive off.

The gang leader soon greeted her, “I would have never guessed that a chick could put up a fight against a gang as big as mine!” Chiya returned a hostile look, prepared to fight the muscular man if needed. “Now I understand why Seppuku wants you. You're his attack dog!”

Chiya shook her head, “That's not true. we're a team fighting the unjust of Mute City.”

He laughed, “That's the Federation's job. You just don't get the big picture...” Chiya narrowed her eyes, “He just wants Blaskovitz and I out of the way so he can take control of the Lower City himself.”

Chiya widened her eyes, trying not to believe him, “S- Shut up! I'm not as gullible as you may think!”

“Seppuku is as blood thirsty as any of us. You've fooled yourself...”

Chiya stomped her foot down and denied everything she was being told, “You're wrong. He's done bad things, but he's done more good than bad; like saving everyone from Samurai Goroh's pirate attack!”

“Meh... I'll just get down to the chase. With you out of the way, Seppuku will be minus a crucial asset.” Chiya gasped at the realization that he was going to kill her with his bare hands. “But I would much rather capture you and use you as bait.”

Chiya twitched at him. _You and everyone else in this bloody universe..._

She then snapped her fingers and took a step back toward her machine, “Well, that sounds good. But you're going to need to catch me first!”

Chain stepped forward to grab her, but she leapt into her cockpit and closed it. Chain stood and laughed at the challenge she had presented him with. He then ran back toward his own F-Zero machine in preparation for street combat. What he didn't know was that the _Purring Kitten_ did not have a combat module installed, and thus Chiya would be unable to defend herself against attacks.

The _Purring Kitten_ was turned on and she signaled for Seppuku on her tracking device. She took off just as the _Wild Boar_ powered on. Chain turned the _Wild Boar_ around and began his pursuit of Chiya, he intended on bashing her machine into scrap metal.

Chiya found herself once again racing down the bridge as fast as possible; she was biting her finger in fear at the pursuing machine. A few moments were taken to observe the _Wild Boar_ in search of shortcomings. _The machine is large, so its body is designed to destroy other machines with ease…_ She glanced at the glowing trail that his machine's rocket was leaving behind. _His rocket, like mine, is single-cored. That means we must have similar speed…_

The _Wild Boar_ was picking up speed and making gradual progress in approaching her from the rear. Chiya gritted her teeth in frustration, his engine may have been similar but it seemed to have a larger maximum speed than Chiya's. No doubt they would engage before the end of the bridge. She was contemplating how to go about defending herself, as his machine could make attacks while she could not. Any chance of escaping him intact was improbable, her best chance would be if she could reach the Upper City where there may be help.

Chain was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel with escalating impatience; he was waiting for the tip of his machine to press against her rear. Chiya could feel the _Wild Boar_ bumping the rear of her machine; she widened her eyes not knowing what to do. She was then startled as her machine began to lift upward. The _Wild Boar_ had begun to move under the _Purring Kitten_ , his plan being to flip her over. Chiya hit the brakes out of pressure, but to her surprise, this launched her up the front of the _Wild Boar_ like a ramp. This put her behind him.

“Whoa…” Chain muttered as he looked back.

Chiya was looking around in confusion, she had driven off the _Wild Boar_ like a ramp and was now in back of him. This put her in no better situation, but bought her more time. With this addition of time, she studied the rear of his machine and made a surprising discovery. _He has only a single booster, I have dual boosters. That must be what I can use against him..._

Chiya groaned in frustration, keeping in mind that boosting was not recommended outside of a track. If she exerted too much energy, her machine would power off. She continued to tremble at her options. _I only need to boost a little bit…_

Her energy meter was full and since she had a superior booster, she would be able to get past him and gain a lot of ground on him. Her options were limited; she would need to use her boosters if she were to get off the bridge alive. After careful consideration, she opened up the lid on her steering wheel which revealed the boost button.

The _Wild Boar_ was beginning to slow down to try and get on the same level as the _Purring Kitten_ for a side attack. Chiya waited until he was almost in position, Chain slowing down was going to give her an even better edge come the time she boosts away. He would never expect her to boost outside of a race, not many racers considered using their boosters outside of a race.

Chain grinned after making the conclusion that she had no intentions of fighting him head-on, “Come on, little girl. Just a little bit closer…” He was almost in position to land a side attack; which would knock her off the bridge and into the water. “Closer…” He was now matching her speed, but still letting her catch up to him, “A little bit closer…”

But all of a sudden, Chain jolted his head up after hearing the large booming sound. Within an instant, the _Purring Kitten_ had vanished and now flew far ahead of him. A blue trail of electricity and mist followed her machine.

“Wh- Wh- What!?” Chiya placed herself far ahead of Chain, the only way he would be able to catch her now was if he boosted as well. “What kind of idiot uses their booster outside of a race?” he asked himself.

He put his finger on the boost button in response. Chiya had a clear advantage over him as she had dual-boosters, he would likely need to boost two times just to catch up with her. He pressed the button which sent the _Wild Boar_ going towards the _Purring Kitten_ very quickly. As was expected, he was still a bit behind Chiya. The end of the bridge was just up ahead and he would need to stop her here or risk facing her in the populated area of Mute City. Just as he was about to boost again, he saw the _Purring Kitten_ boost even further ahead.

Chain slammed his arms down, “This is why blondes shouldn't race!”

Chiya looked at her energy level; it was now in the yellow area, meaning she had less than half of her energy used up. She would need to refrain from exerting any more energy for the sake of her machine. The _Wild Boar_ was even further behind now; at this rate, Chiya had a chance of losing him in the Upper City. The _Wild Boar_ would need to boost about three times if he were to catch up, there was no way his machine had enough energy to pull this off.

Chiya drove off the bridge leading back to the Upper City, it was at this point several people began to watch the two fight. While Chiya turned into the main highway of the Upper City, the _Wild Boar_ was still coming off the bridge. Chiya did not slow down for traffic, she was going to do whatever it takes to outrun Chain. The _Wild Boar_ now came rushing down the highway as well. Chain did not appear to have any intentions of boosting anymore. _Should I drive by the Federation HQ..?_ She then growled at the lack of help Seppuku was providing her with. _What the Hell is taking Seppuku so long to get here..!?_

She decided that the best course of action would be to return home, but only if she could escape from his sight. Chiya was maneuvering turns with ease, thus distancing herself from Chain even more. Chain was far behind but didn't lose sight of her. Chiya gasped upon looking down a different street, she spotted the _Red Dove_ rushing in the adjacent direction.

“Where's he going!?” Chiya panicked.

She then face palmed, remembering that she had sent the distress signal from the bridge. Seppuku was heading to the bridge to rescue her. She was on her own for the time being. The worst case scenario would be if she got tangled up with Red Star while trying to lose Chain. She was just about to go down the slope leading to the Lower City, this would speed her machine up on the way down. She began driving down the slope with an increasing speed. After reaching the slope, Chain made a sudden and surprising decision to boost. Chiya gasped, having been caught caught off guard by such an unpredictable move. As the F-Zero machine boosted down the slope she found Chain coming at her ready to side attack at more than 1,000 km/h. The speed combined with the side attack would propel her through the air without a doubt.

“Oh God!” she yelled as she came to a complete stop. Her machine now began to spin out of control.

Chain had over jumped it as he attempted a side attack, but ultimately missed the _Purring Kitten_. Chain began to scream as he was going towards a building while still boosting. Chiya cringed as she saw the _Wild Boar_ momentarily collide with the building. His machine had crashed and gotten stuck half-way through the building, the front of the _Wild Boar_ was greatly damaged and the cockpit windows were completely shattered.

Chiya began to slowly drive towards him, the _Wild Boar_ was completely still.

“He's dead…” she muttered aloud.

She was wrong however, Chain managed to back out of the building. The front of his machine was crushed and on fire, but still slightly maneuverable. He crossed his arms angrily as he stared at the slowly approaching _Purring Kitten_. Chiya opened her cockpit window, but didn't actually out of her machine.

“You got lucky today dumb girl, but both me and Red Star want you outta here. We'll get you and Seppuku both one day!” he shouted fiercely at her.

Chiya grinded her teeth angrily, “Idiot, if you know where our base is, why not finish the job yourself!?”

Chain smirked angrily at her, “If I knew where your base was--I'd have hundreds of my men storming your building right now!”

Chiya widened her eyes in shock. Chain had just claimed that he didn't know where Seppuku's base was after all, meaning the gang member they had encountered in their base hadn't gotten the chance to tell Michael Chain of his discovery. Killing the goon was a good thing after all.

“We have spies and hackers everywhere, we'll find you soon enough!”

He backed away and began moving forward, his machine could hardly move straight but could move none-the-less. Chiya decided to let him go, as she could find no easy way of killing him this time. It would be best if she simply let this encounter go. She smiled happily at the relief of not needing to combat them so early now, if they didn't truly know where Seppuku was, then there was no point in attacking them head-on. She simply remained still watching the _Wild Boar_ drive off in defeat. It had become clear to her today that she was indeed a target amongst the gangs, but the reasoning behind this was beyond her.

 

 

 

Chiya was later standing with Earl in the garage, the _Purring Kitten_ was now safely stored. Earl was contemplating how they would go about obtaining more energy for her machine.

“It's possible to buy some energy packets, but I'm not sure exactly how much out of our pockets that'll be,” said Earl.

Chiya stomped her foot down angrily, “I wish I didn't have to use energy at all, but Chain would have ran me right off of the bridge if I hadn't.”

“Don't worry about it, we can always make another F-Zero machine, but we can't build another _you_.”

Chiya smiled happily, when suddenly a furious Seppuku kicked open the door angrily, “Why the Hell did you call me to the bridge?”

Chiya stood up tall and cleared her throat, “I was intercepted by the Wild Boar on the bridge.”

Seppuku held his forehead, “I presume that he's dead..?”

Chiya looked down at the ground in shame, “Um ~~\-----~~ m, not quite. See, I didn't have my gun with me at the time…” Seppuku growled at her and clenched his fists together. Chiya began to tremble at Seppuku, quickly hiding behind Earl, “B- but I did get information from him!” she said loudly trying to appease him.

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her, “Information?”

Chiya stepped away from Earl and stood firmly towards Seppuku, “Yes, he informs me that they are still looking for the location of our base, meaning they don't actually know where we operate.”

Seppuku held his chin suspiciously, finding this information doubtful, “Are you sure he isn't trying to catch us off guard?”

Chiya remained and thought about this, but she simply couldn't bear to keep the stress going. She was going to trust her instincts, “Yes, I can assure you that he has no clue where we operate.”

Seppuku exhaled in relief, “Thank God, but still, we shouldn't waste this opportunity,” Chiya and Earl stared at him nervously, “We should still press on with this attack soon. But not too quickly, because now I can prepare a better plan.”

Chiya exhaled in relief knowing that they could relax again, though she would likely have her handgun with her everywhere she goes from now on. She would never forget it again.

“Chiya used a bit of her machine's energy escaping Chain, I was thinking we could just buy some energy packets,” Earl proposed.

Seppuku shook his head negatively, “Too expensive, I'll sneak her into a Mute City track tomorrow and put her on a restoration pad.”

Chiya puckered her lips at the idea of getting to drive onto an official track. Earl narrowed his eyes disapprovingly at Seppuku, “What if you get caught?”

“Please, F-Zero racers do this all the time. It would be a small time offense.”

Seppuku momentarily walked over to the _Purring Kitten_ and observed the body of the machine, he put his hand on the body and felt around the machine. He moved to the other side of the machine examining both sides for any damage from the _Wild Boar_.

Seppuku ultimately came back to Earl with a confused look, “Did you already fix the damage she took..?”

Chiya smiled at Seppuku with her eyebrows raised proudly, Earl shrugged at him, “Well, she didn't take any damage.”

Seppuku shot back a look of shock, then glanced at the innocent looking Chiya, “She raced Chain all the way from the Lightning Area to the Lower City without a scratch on her?”

“The best he did on me was hit the back of my machine.”

Seppuku stood still with a look of great shock at her accomplishment, he rubbed his chin simply and walked out of the garage. Chiya was disappointed that he didn't congratulate her, leaving her to wondering if he was perhaps envious of her skill. Until the day where she could actually enter a race where boosters are allowed with restoration pads, proving her skill would remain a challenge.

 

 

 

Chiya later stood in the training room firing her handgun at various targets. Seppuku had departed into his office after observing her machine, likely working on a bulletproof plan to stop Michael Chain for good. She lowered her weapon and revealed a proud smirk, she had finally made decent shots on all of the targets, still not spot on--but finally hitting some vital areas. The predicament the three were in made Chiya finally realize; if they were to take on the Bloody Chain head-on, she would need to be ready to hit targets quickly and precisely--or she would die. She was preparing to fire again but momentarily looked down at her weapon in amazement at what she was doing. the fact that she was firing a gun—practicing for war. She lowered her weapon again somewhat trembling, she was only just beginning to realize where she was working.

“Not long ago, I planned on becoming a professional soccer player, then an engineer or something, but now…”

She was simply shocked at what she was doing, she went from wanting a simple career, to being part of a deadly underground vigilante group. She had already committed various crimes herself, such as buying from a Black Market, even if it was for good intentions, and of course the killings she had already committed. She felt somewhat disappointed in herself, but then realized that this job would only last until the gang war ended, in which case she would hopefully be racing full-time.

“What will become of this group once this is all over..?” she muttered aloud.

Racing was not the main way of making money as a racer however, most F-Zero racers did have a secondary job as they needed to pay off their expenses. The only easy way to live off of racing would be to win the Grand Prix. After the gang war, Chiya would likely have to scout out for a new line of work, hopefully still keeping in touch with Earl and Seppuku.

Chiya holstered her weapon, but something had suddenly crossed her mind that she needed to remind Seppuku about.

 

 

Seppuku was sitting behind his desk planning out several ways of assaulting both the Red Star and Bloody Chain headquarters. Now that the fear of being attacked was out of the way, they could work on a more thought out plan that would decrease the risk of being killed in action.

Chiya kicked opened his door and loudly marched towards his desk very swiftly, Seppuku looked up in surprise at Chiya's loud entrance.

“Problem?” he asked.

“Damn right there's a problem, you thought I'd forget--but I didn't…” she said while pointing at him with narrowed eyes.

Seppuku tapped his fingers on his desk nervously, he quickly glanced away from her with a frightened look, “I- I don't know what you're talking about…”

Chiya gritted her teeth challenging him, “You're not getting out of this one Seppuku--not this time…”

Seppuku gritted his teeth nervously as he sat silently waiting for her to explain.

Chiya threw her arm in front of him and pointed straight at his face, “I _won_ that bet! You, me, and Earl have to do something fun together now!”     

Seppuku slammed his fist down on his desk and moaned, “Dammit all,” he exhaled, preparing for what terrible thing she would make him go through, “What's your one demand then?” he asked hesitantly.

Chiya revealed a slight smile as she gazed into Seppuku's visor.

 

 

Later on the three were at an indoor water resort in the Upper City. Chiya lurked around in the water in a black bikini. Seppuku stood in the water still wearing a scarf and fedora--but not his coat. He had a look of discontent on his face as he simply stood in the water motionlessly. Earl was hanging around a snack bar as Chiya and Seppuku were in the water. Chiya looked over at Seppuku and began to laugh at him.

“Blimey, Seppuku. I kicked your ass now, didn't I?” she gloated with a smile.

“Shut up.”

 

There was only one race left of the annual Grand Prix, and there were several racers who could win at this point including Seppuku. The one thing Chiya wanted more than anything was for Samurai Goroh not to win the Grand Prix. If Seppuku won the Grand Prix, he would have more than a billion credits to spend. Life would definitely change for the better if this were to happen.

Only time would announce the victor...


	23. Lap 23

==Lap 24=  
  
           

Earl awoke that following day and had been taking a walk around the base before heading to the garage. On a typical day Chiya was still sleeping at this time, and Seppuku would stay in his office regardless of the time. The Korean was eating an apple while walking from the lobby to the garage. Until the annual Grand Prix ended, he would always have work to do on the _Red Dove_. Seppuku did not pay him as often as he did Chiya, but was paid in larger amounts at different times. At the rate of Chiya's payments, she was indeed making more than him. Earl had no objections to Chiya getting paid so much, however, he was beginning to feel overworked by Seppuku and felt that the time for a pay raise was near. The issue with a pay raise was that Seppuku gained profit off of looting criminals. Because of this, the amount of money available to Chiya and Earl depended on how much crime was in the area with bodies to loot.

Earl opened the garage door, which was already somewhat opened for reasons beyond him. He looked at the _Red Dove_ and exhaled, it still appeared to be in perfect condition as Seppuku didn't get into any major engagements the previous race. This would be somewhat of an easy repair. He grabbed his toolbox and approached Seppuku's machine, but first looked at the _Purring Kitten_. He walked up to the cockpit of the _Purring Kitten_ and grinned.

“Soon I'll be repairing two machines…”

At that moment, Chiya sprung her head up from within the cockpit, “Hi Earl!”

“Gah!” Earl jumped away with wide eyes. His entire body tensed up with a beating heart. “God dammit, Chiya! That's a good way to make someone faint!”

The Mysterian giggled as he rubbed his forehead contemplating why Chiya was not still asleep, “So you're up a few hours earlier than usual.”

Chiya confirmed this with a happy nod, then placed her hand over the body of the _Purring Kitten_ , “I was just so excited to jump back into my machine.”

“So, you're pretty fond of your machine, then?”

“You bet!” she answered with a thumbs-up.

Earl crossed his arms and chuckled, “You and Seppuku meeting must have been true destiny. No one wants to start driving such a machine, you must be the rare kind of F-Zero fan,” he looked at the _Purring Kitten_ and nodded, “Seppuku knew you were special...”

“Why wouldn't they want to start driving?”

“Because, F-Zero is dangerous. One bad mistake and you could be dead in no more than a second. It's happened before many times.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and gulped, “Dead?” Earl could see that he scared her at this point by accident, “You don't think I'm going to kill myself doing this, do you?”

Earl tried to retract his previous comments by easing her mind, “No, you already proved that you can handle these machines well. Just understand that the F-Zero races will be much different than racing to the Lightning Area.”

“No doubt,” she said with a grin.

Chiya had no reason for being in the garage at such an early time of the day. She was here to obsess over her new F-Zero machine. Earl soon dropped his grin and sighed, which frightened his friend. He then looked up at her with a nervous face.

“So, I know you have a degree of dislike for your own planet.” Chiya nodded in silence. “You do realize that the next annual Grand Prix will bring us to Mysteria, right?”

Chiya's eyes flashed open in surprise, she entered an immediate state of stillness, “N- No, I didn't know that...”

“Are you thinking about skipping the Grand Prix next year, then?”

Chiya dipped her head down with gritted teeth, “No, I'll still join. But that probably means I'll have to track down my mother and sister...” She could feel her eyes beginning to water as she fought a dark feeling inside of her. “Bloody Hell!” she concluded after pounding her fist against the steering wheel.

Earl raised an eyebrow in confusion, somewhat disturbed by the sudden emotion she was putting into her words, “What's wrong with that? Do they not like you or something?”

Chiya grasped her cheek in frustration, her hand was trembling as she rubbed her forehead with two fingers. Silence ensued as she made several lip movements. Soon, she turned her head toward Earl with a scared face.

“Don't tell Seppuku about this. You're the only person in the universe I feel that I can trust.”

Earl bowed to her with honor, prepared to die with her secret if necessary, “Of course, Chiya.”

Chiya wiped her eyes with a clear look of discomfort in the situation. She was a closed book about her past, but was well prepared to let Earl in on the big secret of her life.

She bit her lip as she continued to tremble slightly, “I just can't go on anymore. I feel like I _need_ to tell someone about this…” She shook her head in a wild way. Earl at this point knew that he was in for some kind of surprise. Chiya released a frantic exhale and glanced at him with a frown. “I'm a felon escapee.”

Earl widened his eyes at her in great surprise, “You, a criminal? It must be a minor offense.”

Chiya widened her eyes at his response, as though she were about to cry. Earl looked away from her, feeling that he somehow offended her.

“I'm not telling you what I did, though…” she responded in a hostile tone.

“Very well.”

Chiya swallowed and dipped her head again, “My mom helped me escape from Mysteria years ago when I was only seventeen. This is how I ended up here in Mute City. I made a promise to her that I would start a family in a more striving place like Earth. I am destined to bring fame and fortune to the Flower name.” Earl was about to respond, but was halted by Chiya's fast hand movement, “My dad died a short time before all of this happened…” she answered with lowered eyelids.

“Illness?”

“No.” Chiya bit one of her fingers and thought deep about this matter, “Me, Mom, Dad, and my little sister were in town at the time, but something was wrong that day when a massive ship lowered down from the sky and hovered over the city. My God, it was the most enormous thing I've ever seen. That ship made a soccer field look like a mere gym.” She looked down at her legs with an intensive gaze, “The next thing we knew, the ship began to shell the city with explosions. I- I don't know what we did wrong to deserve such suffering, but in the end, my dad was struck by one of the explosives.”

“Holy crap.”

Earl's eyes were left quivering, Chiya tapped her finger along her chin and looked away. “My dad, uh…” she struggled to complete her story, as if she were confused. “Well, at any rate; his death was immediate after getting struck.”

Earl was gritting his teeth in amazement at her story, “So a ship just began destroying the city. Was the Mysteria at war or something?”

All of a sudden, from the darkest part of the garage, Lieutenant Seppuku stepped forward. Both Chiya and Earl widened their eyes and gasped as his two triangular white eyes made their debut. “It's a well known event referred to as the ' _Day of Falling Mist'._ ”

Chiya struck her fist down in anger, “Bloody Hell! How long have you been in here?” She knew that Seppuku had overheard the entire conversation.

Seppuku approached the two and looked at Chiya, “The ship that destroyed Engelland was like no other and has never been seen again.” Chiya widened her eyes, surprised to hear the name of her Mysterian hometown. “This ship was far beyond any known military power in the universe. The Day of Falling Mist was an unprecedented attack against the Mysterian Empire and has left its economy in shambles for years ever since.”

Chiya raised an eyebrow intrigued by his lesson, “You seem to know a lot about this...”

“I was there.”

The Mysterian's eyes widened even more, “Wh- What? Were you spying for the Federation?”

“Perhaps. Your accusation of the Federation sending spies is correct, and I will confirm that I, indeed, acted as a spy once or twice to the Mysterian Empire. I assure you, I saw everything in Engelland that day, six years ago.”

An offended look was still being sent toward Seppuku, angered by the lack of privacy she had while discussing her background with Earl. Seppuku could read Chiya's angry face with ease. He had heard the part where she requested Earl not to tell Seppuku about her past, which helped him create his next sentence.

“Don't worry, I already knew about your criminal past.”

Chiya fell back in horror, “Wha- What? How!?”

“I have secret access to all medical and law related files, but I don't have your Mysterian criminal files. I don't know what you did on your planet, but I've looked deep into your soul and have found truth, regret, guilt, sorrow...” Chiya was grinding her teeth in rage, finding Seppuku far out of line. “I know just by the emotions you convey that there is something dark behind you. But if it makes you feel better, I look at Bendek's records as well.”

“This isn't fair!” Seppuku smirked at the Mysterian. “You can't be looking through our private info, it's not like _we_ can access _your_ information!”

“Life isn't fair. I wish I still had that footrest that was under my desk this one day; but someone must have come in and taken it…” Chiya widened her eyes and glanced away from him.

“B- But, I don't want you looking at my private information…” she pleaded.

“Too late. I've already read your medical and permanent records,” Chiya gave an intense glare, “I know everything about you, Chiya. Your age, place of birth, date of birth, height, allergies; I even knew about your escape from Mysteria long before today…”

Chiya was outraged but at a loss for words. This was without a doubt the angriest she had ever gotten at him. This moment solidified the fact that she no longer viewed the Man of Darkness as much of a hero, but more so of a jerk.

Seppuku continued by grinning, “Jody called and said that she has something for me at their HQ. I want you two to go there as my ambassadors and see what they want from me.”

“My machine can't fit two people...” she argued.

“Ride with Earl in his car. I would just send him to do this himself, but I wouldn't mind getting a break from _you_ as well.”

Chiya was beyond crushed by Seppuku's harsh treatment, almost treating her like a slave. “Anything else, Master?”

The sarcastic was received and answered to her surprise, “Yeah, pick me up something good to drink while in town. Not a smoothie, though.”

Chiya growled and marched to Earl's car, now wanting to get away from the irritating nature of Lieutenant Seppuku as soon as possible. Earl looked back at Seppuku with a hostile face as well, there was no doubting that Seppuku was extra hostile today. Earl's anger, however, only came from the fact that Seppuku broke Chiya's emotional conversation with him. Seppuku soon left the garage as the two friends got in the car. A now fuming Flower sat in the car pouting. She wouldn't let this occurrence go; Seppuku had gone too far.  


  


Chiya and Earl were en route to the Galactic Federation HQ as Seppuku had kicked the two out of the base. Chiya was furious because he accessed her private information without any signs of guilt. He seemed to believe that this was fine, as if he had some kind of authority over both Chiya and Earl. Earl glanced at Chiya with a fair level of concern, she still had a look of great discontent on her face but now appeared more sad than angry. Earl rubbed his chin contemplating how he could calm her down.

“I'm sure you've had some good times on Mysteria, right?”

Chiya killed her sad expression and thought about this, “I guess...” She put a finger over her bottom lip, “I got to go to prom once, it was one of the only times I got to dress up all pretty. Unfortunately, it was a short lived night because I learned that my date was an egoistic bloke.”

Earl then make the mistake of chuckling in pride and explaining, “I always went to prom. Girls were always surrounding me when I attended school, it was basically hard _not_ to get a date to prom!” He then looked at Chiya and spotted heavy hostility on her face. Earl's eyes began to quiver, realizing that he had made a mistake, “But, uh, anyways... I wonder what the Federation wants.”

“I somehow doubt they want anything. I bet Seppuku just wanted us out of there since we're, apparently, too annoying.”

Earl sighed as they continued to drive toward the Upper City.   
  


 

Not much later, Chiya and Earl found themselves in the same room of the Federation HQ they had been in before. Jody and Dr. Clash were approaching the two, the chief commander did so with an intimidating gaze. Dr. Clash was the main engineer of the team, he had extra mechanical limbs on his back that could act as extra arms; he also had black goggles and a yellow racing suit. Chiya was somewhat hiding behind Earl, presuming that he would be the one who speaks to Jody.

“Where's Seppuku?” Jody demanded.

Earl reached his hand out for a handshake, “He insisted that we act as messengers for him.”

An awkward moment ensued as Jody did not return the handshake, she continued to stare at him in frustration. “Fine, then. We recently received a threatening transmission for him and Captain Falcon. I wished to discuss the message with the Lieutenant, but since he's not here, he'll have to call me with a response.”

She handed Earl a metal disc that could display a holographic message once turned on. Earl raised an eyebrow at the disc, it looked much more advanced than any he had ever seen.

“Who sent the message?”

“Blood Falcon.”

Chiya and Earl both gasped, the Mysterian proceeded to flap her arms, “Well, what does he want!?”

“He plans on doing something bad on the planet of Aeropolis, where the last race will be held.”  Jody crossed her arms, “Unfortunately, the government of Aeropolis does not allow the Federation to protect their planet. I'm expecting your boss to take care of this himself; as I'm sure he doesn't fear offending Aeropolis as much as I do.”

Earl shrugged at her last comment, “I'm sure Seppuku will cause a riot…” he admitted.

Next, Jody presented Earl with two blue slips of paper. Earl lowered both his brows and took both into hand. Chiya puckered her lips and looked down over his shoulder.

“What are these?”

Jody narrowed her eyes in a hostile fashion, “Two fines, one for both you and Seppuku.”

Chiya's eyes widened in shock, Earl's did in rage, “Wh- Wha- Fines? Fines!?” He clenched his left fist and challenged, “For what!?”

“Each of you will pay for: Speeding, street racing, careless driving, and the neglecting of posted signs and streetlights.” She gave Earl a very cold finger snap, “Both of you will pay a fine.”

Earl took offense to this and gritted his teeth, “That's unfair. Even Captain Falcon does three if not all four of those things on a routine basis.”

Clash nodded at Jody, confirming this. However, she did not back down from her ruling. “Yes, but Captain Falcon holds the benefit of being a hero. Seppuku is anything but.”

Earl prepared to shoot another complaint, but Chiya soon stepped forward and bowed, “Jody, I won't lie. That wasn't Earl driving the other machine—it was I.”

“You?” she asked in shock.

This was where Seppuku's hostile actions against her minutes ago would come back to sting the Man of Darkness, for Chiya felt no regret in her following words. “Seppuku made me race him. He would punish me if I didn't win the street race.”

“And did you win?”

“Heck, yeah!”

“Interesting...”

Jody grasped her chin and bit her lip. She needn't question why Chiya was in an F-Zero machine, she was intelligent enough to guess the reason. She was looking into the Mysterian Blue eyes of a future racer—tutored by her somewhat friendly nemesis. But it was in the longer run that Jody came to consider a few things. Chiya was honest and admitted to her own wrongdoing, and she brought Seppuku to shame by beating him—two things Jody had to admire.

With a sigh, Jody snatched one ticket out of Earl's hand, “Give Seppuku his fine and the message.” She then pointed at Chiya with a straight finger, “No street racing. There are millions of pedestrians walking around in this metropolis, and I'm not going to help you out of prison once you run over someone.”

Chiya raised her finger to respond, but Earl intercepted her line, “We'll take these things back to Seppuku.” Chiya, again, raised her finger to speak, but then Jody proceeded to interrupt her as well.

“Then leave. If Seppuku isn't here with you two, then we have nothing further to discuss,” Jody said pointing at the door.

 _Why is everyone kicking us out today like bloody bastards..?_   
  


 

After returning home, the three came together in Seppuku's office with the disc now laying on his desk. Chiya had calmed down to the point where she was standing with a look seeking adventure. Seppuku was trying to figure out how to turn on the disc, for it was a never before seen model. Chiya glanced at Earl, wondering if he knew how to turn it on. Earl nodded at Chiya as if he had read her mind. He then grabbed the disc out of Seppuku's hands.

“I'm sorry... This was just getting kind of awkward…” Earl pressed a very visible red button that Seppuku had somehow missed.

He put the disc back on the desk as a red light began to emerge above the disc. Seppuku raised an eyebrow with great interest in what the message was about. Chiya gulped as the tall image of Blood Falcon began to form. The disc was building a 3D holographic model of Blood Falcon. Chiya was amazed by the quality of the hologram, whoever made this had good expertise in what they did. However, this was different, it was the best looking holographic image she had ever seen; almost like the device came from the future.

The hologram recording began to play, “Captain Falcon, Lieutenant Seppuku,” Blood Falcon greeted with crossed arms. Seppuku smirked at the recording. “Black Shadow wanted you two present on Aeropolis for the unveiling of the new capital to our empire!”

“Empire?” Chiya questioned.

“By the end of this Grand Prix we'll have kicked off our master plan, starting with the complete annexation of Aeropolis! But of course, if you two wish to try and stop me from doing so, then feel free to intervene!” Seppuku clenched his fists toward Blood Falcon's threat. Blood Falcon swatted his hands together with a grin, “I look forward to confronting you two for one final confrontation!” he concluded with a laugh.

The hologram turned off and Seppuku brought both his hands together, “I look forward to it as well, buddy…”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, now disturbed, “No one is concerned about this empire that he mentioned?”

Seppuku nodded, “For long, Black Shadow ranted on about his perfect empire of Dark Million. Now it looks like he's ready to take action.”

Chiya gritted her teeth in fear, “Is Dark Million more powerful than the gangs down here?”

The question was beat back by a loud laugh, “Black Shadow's empire would cleanse the gangs from the streets in no more than a day. Mind you, he _did_ create Blood Falcon, and just look how powerful he is.”

Chiya and Earl exchanged nods, Earl then asked, “What do we do?”

Seppuku stood up from his desk, “We need to honor his invitation and wait for him on Aeropolis.”

“Might this be a trap?” proposed Chiya.

“Maybe. This is between Blood Falcon and I. We do, believe it or not, have somewhat of a history together.”

“So...” All eyes were placed on Earl, “When do we leave for Aeropolis?”

“It would be a necessary precaution to leave early,” Seppuku turned toward Chiya and pointed at her, “We can't bring your machine along, but it's the last time we're going off this planet for a while. This is the final race and we should have no reason to leave the planet after this.”

Chiya nodded, “No problem.”

“Bendek, what are the odds of me winning the Grand Prix?”

He smiled, “Very good, actually. You just need to make sure that you get 1st or 2nd place. Blood Falcon will need to end this in at least 3rd place. The most unlikely person to win would be Goroh.” Earl scratched the back of his head, “I know you'll hate this, but, Jody could win this as well by coming in 1st.”

“Then it looks like taking out Blood Falcon will be my main objective for this final race, aside from winning it.”

“What about Michael Chain?” asked Chiya.

Seppuku silently chuckled and crossed his arms, “We focus on winning the billion credits.” He placed the holographic projector in his pocket and nodded. “We'll deal with Chain, soon enough…”


	24. Lap 24

==Lap 25=  


Chiya and Earl stood in front of the transport that would be taking them to Aeropolis, both were petrified of transports after their last horrific experience. Goroh was not defeated; he could be roaming through space in search of vessels at any time. The mistake the transport made last time was that it took a shortcut through ungoverned space, where no one could save them. While Chiya's gaze was beyond fearful, Earl was refraining from expressing fear. He had, however, brought up his concerns to Seppuku about traveling via transport again, but there was no other option. The three would arrive on Aeropolis early so they could intercept Blood Falcon, as they had no idea when or where he would strike. The general assumption was that he would strike close to the racetrack.

Before walking forward, Chiya grabbed Earl by the shoulder and sighed. He turned and looked her in the eyes. “Please don't do anything stupid this time...” Chiya insisted.

“I wasn't being stupid. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time when Goroh caught me.”

Earl began walking towards the transport's loading ramp, Chiya followed him very close. This time Seppuku was the only F-Zero racer on the ship, which meant that he could have the private F-Zero section of the ship all to himself. While walking up the ramp, Chiya found herself gazing at the back of Earl's head with constant eye shaking. Chiya began to tap her two fingers together with a slow forming blush.

“So, uh, Earl... What, u—uh...” The man turned to look at her, she searched for the right words to use, but was throwing many blanks, “Wha- Uh...”

“Is something wrong, Chiya?”

The two stepped into the cargo bay and stopped beside the _Red Dove_. Chiya tickled her arm while biting on her bottom lip.

“Uh, I mean, yes, kind of...” She gulped and now began to scratch her arm. Earl took notice of this because of the red skin pigment being left behind, “Let's just say that this is a bad time for Aeropolis...”

“Huh, how come?” Chiya rolled her eyes aside and dipped her head down with slight humility. Whatever her problem was, she seemed very secure about. Earl dismissed this question and proceeded to ask, “Were you going to ask me something?”

With a flushed face, Chiya began to twirl her hair around with wide eyes, “Yes, do you remember what I suggested we do on Sand Ocean?”

Earl puckered his lips, “Not off the top of my head.”

With much hesitation, she took a step toward him, “You know, the dinner..?”

“Dinner?”

She took one more step toward him and cleared her throat, “U- Uh, well... We're all _'on the level'_...”

“I... see..?”

His confused response suppressed Chiya's goal a slight bit and caused her to retreat back a step. With an exhale, she fired the question off. “Might we have dinner? Here in the ship?” She cupped her hand over her mouth after asking.

Earl raised both his eyebrows, then shrugged with a grin, “Nah, let's not do that.” Chiya's heart almost collapsed on the spot. “Seppuku hates eating in public.”

Yet again, Earl had misinterpreted the dinner proposal. But Chiya made the foolish decision of withdrawing her idea in order to save herself from breaking down.

“Oh, I see! Yes, that was a silly idea!” Chiya revealed a very fake smile and brought both arms behind her back. Earl's grin intensified, and so he laughed.

“You're funny, Chiya.”

Earl continued toward a hallway, but Chiya remained standing with two lowered eyelids. “Yes, I'm funny...” She responded with a frown.  
  


Not long after entering the ship, Earl had ditched Chiya once again in the dining area. As always, Chiya stuck out as the poorest looking person in the room, for everyone else wore much more luxurious attire. She was going to a planet she had no knowledge on for five whole days. She had not accounted for the fact that they could be killed by Blood Falcon on this mission, but this wasn't what Chiya had on her mind at the time.

Almost slamming her face down on a table, Chiya released an immense growl of frustration.

 _I hope Earl didn't leave because he thinks I'm boring. I don't know how to be more entertaining_ … She soon found herself thinking back to what she may be doing wrong to lose Earl and Seppuku's attention. This was the second time aboard a transport ship, and once again both men abandoned her to do their own things. The only flak she could give herself was that she more often complained and whined, rather than talk about positive things. This could very well play a role in their decision to leave her. The Mysterian moaned and forced her forehead down. _Just come back and talk to me, Earl. Or something..!_

After shouting in her head, an employee approached the disgruntled woman and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, ma'am.” Chiya lifted her head up with wide eyes, the employee appeared frantic. “Are you okay? You're freaking everyone out making all those sounds and strange movements…”

Chiya looked around the room in humiliation, many travelers were staring at her. “Oh, um, sorry...” she chuckled with a glowing face, “I was just having a deep thought, is all…”

The employee nodded, “If you're bored, perhaps you'd like to visit the library?”

“Library?”

“We have a library within the ship. Come along, I'll show you.”

Chiya stood up and followed the person, they moved toward the back of the dining area which revealed several more hallways. Chiya was surprised, not knowing that there was more to the ship. Most of the doors she could see had an ' _Employees Only'_ label, the door way up the hallway had a ' _Library'_ label. The employee opened the door for her and pointed inside.

“All reading material is available free of charge.”

“Thank you,” she muttered.

The worker shut the door and returned to the dining area, leaving Chiya alone in the library. There were bookshelves all across the room. She walked down the room with a puzzled face. _Why would you begin to read any of these? You would only have a few chapters down by the end of the trip…_ She searched for a section of the library that may be of interest to her, but nothing stuck out to her as interesting. After performing a brief scan of the room, she found a small table with books pertaining to F-Zero. The first book she saw sitting on the table was an encyclopedia of F-Zero racers.

She opened the book and found the first page centering on Mighty Gazelle. The page featured a large full body image of Mighty Gazelle and his machine followed by three pages of information. She skipped a few pages, next revealing Jody Summer. She had many more pages of information than Mighty Gazelle—much of which pertained to her career as a Federation officer. Chiya, typically, was more interested in seeing if Seppuku was anywhere in the book. After flipping through many more pages she came across not Seppuku, but someone else of interest to her.

“Black Shadow…” she read aloud. She began to read the very large amount of information Black Shadow had, his character had ten pages—only some of which pertained to racing. “Bounty of ten billion?”

The bounty on Black Shadow's head was the equivalent to winning the annual Grand Prix ten times. Bart Lemming told her that anyone who could collect his bounty would be set for life, she now realized how true this was.

She proceeded to read a specific block of text, “Following the Great Accident, Black Shadow used Captain Falcon's DNA to create a replica of evil—Blood Falcon. Today, Blood Falcon races on Black Shadow's behalf.” Chiya widened her eyes at the mentioning of the 'Great Accident', an F-Zero event that occurred in the final race of a Grand Prix that left many, including Captain Falcon, injured. This event led to the temporary banning of F-Zero. “I wonder what Seppuku was doing during the accident…”

She turned a few more pages and found a page on Lieutenant Seppuku. The image they picked for him was small and he had only a single page on him giving a quick introduction to who he was. No specific information was available on him. She was surprised by the lack of details on Seppuku. She read the very brief block of information in her mind. ' _Lieutenant Seppuku is a fresh racer with no recorded background information. His small reputation comes from the fact that he was an ace on the track from the very beginning; as though he were never a rookie racer...'_ Chiya felt somehow offended by this. Seppuku was such an interesting character, making it seem strange that someone would not want to research him more.

She closed the book, for Seppuku had the honor of holding its last page. She bit her lips while contemplating about Seppuku. “Something is wrong…” She thought back to Seppuku's medical record he had, as it also contained very little information, “He has some kind of secret…”

Chiya stood up and walked back out the door, feeling the sudden need to talk to someone about her discovery from Seppuku's medical record. Earl was the only person she could discuss this matter with. She was becoming nervous at what Earl's initial reaction might be when she brings it up, as he may be disappointed in her for eavesdropping on Seppuku's personal information. She opened the library door and walked into the dining room once more. Upon entering the room, her eyes widened toward the installed bar of the dining room. Earl was at the counter alongside a black-haired woman; the two appeared to be enjoying the other's company. Chiya narrowed her eyes in anger and began proceeded toward the two with clenched fists.

Earl, with a very sly grin, told the woman, “So, I'm gonna be a bit tied down this week. But maybe we can hook up back in Mute City?”

“Um, okay!” the girl responded with glee.

“Your name's Maggie, you say?” She nodded while holding her drink. “Okay, so I'll come pick you up somewhere along the lines of-”

Chiya then tugged Earl away from the woman, “Wh- Whoa, hey now! I was talking to someone!” he complained.

The Mysterian had a tempered expression, but dismissed his complaint. “I need to talk to you about Seppuku.”

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, but was ready to listen. Chiya was about to spit out what she had on her mind, but at the last minute couldn't find the strength to make herself sound like someone who would stalk Seppuku's records.

“Um—m…” Earl was staring at her in silence, which was only making Chiya feel more guilty. She ended up sighing and collapsing sadly onto a chair next to the counter, retreating from the conversation, “Forget it…”

“You look upset, are you alright?”

Chiya grunted, she no longer had any intentions of telling Earl about her discovery on Seppuku, yet, she seemed upset by something else. She breathed in and found the courage to ask him another problem on her mind.

“A- Am I a boring person..?”

Earl glanced away from her for a moment, then grinned at the back of her head, “Boring? Hell, no. You have character and many stories to tell; not happy stories, but interesting stories, nonetheless.”

Chiya smiled slightly, “I guess I do…” Her bottom lip began to tremble, and so she struck her forehead down against her arms. “I just wish I had more confidence. I'm never going to get married and have babies!”

Earl dropped his lips with wide eyes at the sudden outburst. “B- Babies?” Chiya kept her head down in sudden gloom. “I didn't know you wanted to be a mother, considering how young you are.”

The woman groaned and shook her head, then mumbled, “I don't want to be alone...”

The Korean was beginning to feel awkward, understanding that this wasn't a problem he could solve—or at least was willing to solve. He swallowed and looked down at her again, then pat her on the back.

“There, there, Chiya. You're too nice and pretty of a person to stay single forever...” He felt even more embarrassed by her lack of response. Thus, he looked away and nodded to himself, “Alright, well... I have to, uh, go to the restroom...”

Chiya remained still with her head down as her friend took his leave. Soon, she lifted her head up and sighed with one hand over her cheek.  
  


Seppuku was sleeping in the F-Zero section once more. The man spent so much of his time working that he never got to sleep. He was a professional when it came to staying awake. Though asleep, Seppuku was imagining in his sleep what he would do with the prize money if he were to win the Grand Prix.

His slumber was interrupted by the ship's intercom system, “Emergency engineers to the bridge, emergency engineers to the bridge.”

Two white eyes flicked onto the Man of Darkness' visor, “What now..?”  
  


Chiya was now sitting straight and looking around the dining room, people were becoming silent as they were concerned about the call for emergency engineers. Nothing appeared to be happening and the workers were still doing their jobs without hesitation or looks of fear. Chiya had the utmost fear of Samurai Goroh attacking them again, but a request for engineers was not relevant to Samurai Goroh in any way.

Chiya looked over the counter at the bartender, “Excuse me, is there a problem with the ship?”

“I've been informed that there was a problem refueling back on Mute City and that we're a bit lacking right now. But you needn't worry.”

The lights in the ship dimmed to complete darkness, everyone began to panic except for Chiya, who almost saw this coming. She was becoming very disappointed in the lack of precaution for the passengers of these ships.

“Attention passengers, due to technical complications, we must cut some energy being used for services into fuel. For the rest of the trip there will be little light and no music. We apologize for the inconvenience. Trip expenses will be cut.”

“Bloody Hell...”  
  


Hours later, the transport began to descend onto a bright ghastly looking planet with an atmospheric glow that almost made it look like a star from the outside. The surface of the planet was unused, for the planet was was one large city. The planet was very similar to Mute City, but many would argue that Aeropolis is better. Aeropolis had streets and buildings, except the streets were miles from the actual ground and were floating up in the air. The ground of the planet was not visible as a dense thick fog covered it, it was anyone's guess as to how far the ground was from the city. The ship landed on a very large platform along with other transports.

Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku stood in the cargo bay, there were five days until the final race. They would need to somehow find Blood Falcon in this part of the metropolis. Seppuku stood by the loading ramp door gazing at the bright and prosperous city.

“I'll find us a place to operate from, you two can just roam the city as you wish—but stay vigilant for Blood Falcon.”

“Aye,” Chiya responded.

Seppuku nodded and began walking toward the _Red Dove._ Chiya gritted her teeth in fear of how hot it would be once she steps out of the ship, for when she had stepped out of the ship on Sand Ocean, she was met with an extreme heatwave. Earl walked ahead of her and proceeded down the ramp, Chiya moved one step out of the ship. Earl stopped to see her reaction, she cringed upon stepping out, but then smiled.

“It's very cool here,” she commented happily.

“Aeropolis has a planetary cooling system,” he answered.

She smiled while observing the magnificent metropolis, “Why don't we just live here instead?”

“Crime rate here is very low, therefore, Seppuku hates this planet.”

The _Red Dove_ drove past the two and onto the streets, Chiya's hair flapped against her face as the machine blew a gust of wind at the two. Chiya chuckled at Seppuku's rude behavior and disregard for their safety, somehow finding humor in this.

The proceeded to walk down the streets of Aeropolis together, Chiya was fearing what would happen if the streets were suddenly to collapse, as the ground was so far from where they stood. The planet was striving with trade convoys, which would fly both under and over the city.

“Amazing, huh?” asked Earl. Chiya looked at Earl anticipating a lesson, “The most amazing part is that this is all because of that one computer.”

He pointed up at a tower with a spinning machine. It had a similar appearance to that of a clock tower. Instead of the time, the tower was displaying the number '5'.

“How does a computer do all of this?”

“It's called 'Mother-Q'. Mother-Q is the universe's most intelligent AI and is now the sole governing body of this planet. She's in control of the military, government, infrastructure—you name it.” Chiya looked up at Mother-Q in amazement, “This entire planet's metropolis is built by that one computer, no workers needed. To this day, it is still constructing buildings all across the planet.”

“That's impossible…” Chiya muttered in utter shock.

“No one gets inside of Mother-Q, though. She has impenetrable security. The number on its tower represents the risk level of the entire metropolis shutting down.”

“Shutting down?”

“Five means that everything is fine, but zero means the destruction of Aeropolis is inevitable.” Chiya's eye began to twitch in fear of Mother-Q's power. “If Mother-Q dies, all of this will begin to disappear; as the metropolis is built off of energy-based material.”

Chiya shook her head with a frantic face, “Let's not talk about that, please...”

Earl honored her request with a nod. While the risk of planetary destruction was always high, the chances of Mother-Q becoming disabled was improbable, for it is designed to fix its own errors and damages. Aeropolis had constructed several race tracks for the F-Zero committee, but six of the eight were deemed too dangerous for F-Zero racers and the odds of a death occurring was far too high. The most often track used in the annual Grand Prix was called 'Multiplex'.

While walking, Earl soon spotted a gambling parlor set up across a street and walked toward it, Chiya grunted while reaching out for him, “Sh- Shouldn't we be looking for Blood Falcon?”

Earl shrugged but didn't look back at her, “I have a feeling he might be in here, but I may have to play a few games to determine if he is or not.”

Chiya gritted her teeth and sighed, “Just like that, I'm the only one doing any actual work in this bloody organization…” she complained aloud.

A much larger frown then came onto her face, wishing that Earl would come back to aid her in the search. She knew him to be a potent gambler, so there was no point in waiting for him—Earl would be out for a few hours or until he runs out of money. Chiya remained still and continued to look around the city.

 _Where might someone go if they were aspiring to conquer this planet..?_ She began to think back to history class as to how nations conquered each other. Since she came from a self-revolved planet with only one major war under its belt, she only knew of the war between Mysteria, Magica, and the Galactic Space Federation. This ended in somewhat of a stalemate, however. _I know that soldiers would kill each other over something…_ Chiya sighed, feeling like an idiot. She lacked the knowledge of whether or not Blood Falcon was bringing some kind of army.

She looked at the gambling parlor again wishing that Earl would come out and give her a hint on where to start looking. Earl of all people would know how to win a war since he served in one. _He said that his side won by crushing the rebellion's leadership_ … The answer then became clear as day to her.

“In this case, the leadership is Mother-Q.”

She turned around to look at the massive computer, Mother-Q had many automated turrets guarding the door. It was becoming clear to her now now that if Blood Falcon planned on targeting Mother-Q, he would need an army of some sort. There was no way he could get through all of the defense mechanisms on his own, or so she thought. The question Chiya now had was when he would strike. With five days until the race, the evil clone could attack at any time. _I wonder if Captain Falcon will show up_ …  
  


Chiya resumed walking away. Little did she know, someone watched her from atop a building. Samurai Goroh stood alongside Captain Fortuna watching the Mysterian with his optical device.

“That's her.”

Fortuna nodded while holding his shotgun, “She'll take us right to Seppuku, then.”

The pirate leader scoffed, “I don't care about Seppuku at the moment. I'm more interested in collecting that girl's bounty. More money in our pocket, and a pissed off Seppuku.”

“Her? She has a bounty on her head? She doesn't look like a criminal...”

Goroh chuckled, “Seppuku's interested in her, which means she must be a death machine in disguise. I'm not too surprised that the girl is a criminal.”

“How much is the bounty?”

“Only seven thousand. But I think they'll give us a little more if we bring her back alive.”

Fortuna did not appear amused by the reward, “But we're going up against Seppuku. It doesn't sound like that pity cash is worth the trouble.”

“We get the cash, _and_ I get to damage Seppuku's little gang. A win-win situation in my eyes.” Chiya left their sight, and so Goroh put away his optical device. “Come on, there's work to be done!”  
  


 

Several minutes later, Chiya was in a video store looking at a selection of movies. She was looking at every film in utter disgust.

In a disgusted tone, she read, “Rod and Velma take a trip to the toy store, but are excited to find that adult toys are being manufactured at- ugh, why are there so many of these dirty videos?”

She continued to pick out movies, but cringed at each one she held up. _What about the children that want fun movies? They'll be exposed to all of this filth…_

The manager soon approached her and asked, “Dirty? What are you looking for, less kinky stuff?”

Chiya gasped and glared in appallment, “Whoa, what!?” The Mysterian flapped her arms, “No! Don't you have any action or romance films?”

“Sure we do. We've got 'Carpet Lickers 3', plenty of girl-on-girl action and romance in that-”

“What!?”

The manager raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes at her, “You realize that this is a video store for adult movies, right?”

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, then soon widened her eyes before grunting. She put the video she was holding back on the shelf while trembling, her face began to glow in embarrassment as she backed toward the exit.

“I- I'll be going now…” she muttered with a disturbed expression.

She wasted no time in exiting the building. Once outside, she exhaled while trembling, then almost screamed upon looking up. Seppuku stood in front of her. She jolted up straight in shock surprised and gasped.

“O- Oh, hi!” she said with her face still glowing.

Seppuku looked up at the building's sign and raised both his brows in shock, then looked back down at the innocent woman. “Well, then. Picking out a movie to watch with Bendek, I see...”

Chiya began shook her hands and head, “No, no, no! I didn't mean to-”

“Whatever. Where's Bendek?”

“Gambling.”

“Of course…” Seppuku muttered with anger.

Chiya spun around and pointed at Mother-Q, “After thinking, I imagine that Blood Falcon will be targeting the Mother-Q computer, as this is what controls the planet.”

Seppuku crossed his arms and offered an approving nod, “Kind of obvious, but good work figuring that out, at any rate.” Chiya showed no expression but was overjoyed by the compliment, knowing that she did a good job. “Now, take me to Bendek,” he ordered.  
  


 

Chiya and Seppuku moments later entered the gambling parlor, Earl was surrounded with other players at a round table. Most of them were giving him angry looks.

“You're hustling us, aren't ya?” a player accused.

With a grin, Earl replied, “No, I swear I've never played this before…”

At that moment, Chiya came up behind Earl and smiled. “Playing Forejack?” Earl widened his eyes and gritted his teeth. “Watch out, Earl's a pro at this game!” she warned the players.

Earl gulped and dipped his head down, everyone was now glaring at him. “You ever have any wisdom teeth pulled out?” one of the men asked.

“No—o...” The man cracked his knuckles at Earl, who then backed away from the table, “Uh, yeah, well, I have to go…”

A somewhat muscular and large man stood up in front of Earl, intimidating him with ease. Earl trembled due to the strength that this man seemed to possess. Chiya stepped in front of Earl to defend him.

“If you want to get to Earl, you gotta get through me!”

The man tiled his head, thus making a crack in his neck. This mere neck cracking caused Chiya to retreat behind Earl and tremble. Seppuku then approached the two from behind and looked into the angry eyes of the man

“I owe Earl a few. So if you start a fight with him, you get _killed_ by me.”

Chiya looked up at Seppuku with a disturbed look, but Earl found himself nodding with a frantic face.

The disgruntled gambler backed away from the three, “Fine...” He then sat back down with the others.

Seppuku nodded in approval of the man's choice to retreat, then grabbed both Chiya and Earl, “I found a nice place for us to stay for the week. I'll show you two where it is.”  
  


Chiya was starting to relax more, understanding that Blood Falcon may not make a move for several days. She would need to relax for the days she was on Aeropolis. No gangs or dangerous missions; but the anxious desire to get back to the _Purring Kitten_.


	25. Lap 25

==Lap 26=

 

The following day, Chiya stood in front of a window up in a tall skyscraper. The room she stood in was very fitting for someone of her character. Luxurious furniture, a clean bathroom, and the kitchen was filled with desirable consumables. She stood smiling down at the great metropolis, it had only been a day and she was already beginning to favor this planet over all others as she realized that this may be where she would live if Seppuku's organization ever broke up. She held her hands together and exhaled with a feeling of royalty; it was beyond her how Seppuku had acquired enough to afford such a place for several days...

 

 

 

 

 

“Wake up…” Seppuku said to a sleeping Chiya.

Chiya launched her eyes open and examined the room she was in, she then narrowed her eyes in disgust and moaned, “Oh yeah, you rented out _this_ place…”

In reality, Seppuku had managed to locate an abandoned structure which appeared to once be a small market. Seppuku had allowed Chiya access to the only bedroom in the entire building, leaving Earl and Seppuku to improvise a bedroom. It could be argued that both were thinking ahead on how to prevent Chiya from complaining, so they surrendered the only bedroom to her.

“I didn't rent it, I found it,” Seppuku corrected.

Chiya swatted her arms against her waist, “Why couldn't you just spend a little for an actual building?”

“This _is_ a building, and it's good enough,” he said as he walked out of the room.

The Mysterian stared at the door for several moments, then dropped both her eyebrows. In a deep tone, she whined. “Ug—gh..!” She fell onto her back and continued whining. “This is a bad time of the month to be away from a working bathroom...”

After moping around for about five minutes, Chiya jumped into her boots, grabbed her handgun, and went straight out the bedroom prepared to get on with her day. She planned on looking more into the Blood Falcon mission, even though there was little more to do but wait for him.

Chiya walked past the empty shelves of the store in search of Earl, the building first appeared void of any presence, but a gunshot changed this. She gasped and jolted up startled at the sound of a gunshot in the building, she turned toward the source of the firing—revealing Seppuku with his rifle drawn.

“What the bloody Hell are you doing!?”

Seppuku lowered his rifle, “You were right, my rifle is still very precise even with the silencer you got me.” Chiya looked across the room, he had shot an empty bottle on a shelf.

Chiya narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, “If the police show up, I had nothing to do with that gunshot.” Seppuku smirked at her and set his rifle down. Chiya then asked, “Might you know where Earl is?”

“Your boyfriend? He's gambling again.”

“After nearly getting the lights beat out of him by that one man, yesterday?” Seppuku affirmed this with a nod. “Blimey, I'm beginning to doubt his intelligence…”

Seppuku laughed at her insult and walking out of the building onto the streets, on with his own hunt for Blood Falcon. Meanwhile, Chiya spotted a map of Aeropolis on the wall of the room, but it appeared outdated by a few years. She approached the map, curious as to what other things the city had for her to visit.

“Salon, supermarket, betting parlor, Multiplex race track…”

 _A salon wouldn't be bad…_ she thought with great interest. Chiya swiped the map off the wall and proceeded out onto the streets, which were very populated. So far, Chiya was confused as to why so many people preferred Mute City over Aeropolis. The entire planet was an expanding metropolis with the same temperature every day and no bad weather because of Mother-Q's weather control system. The somewhat disturbing fact was that everywhere she walked, she stepped on Mother-Q; for the computer was connected to every structure and road. Chiya continued walking down the streets of what appeared to be paradise.

“This planet is truly amazing…”

 

 

Earl sat himself at the gambling table he had been at the previous day, some familiar players were sitting there with glares. “Hey, what gives? We don't want any hustler at our table.”

The Korean sighed, “Okay, fine. I was hustling you,” he admitted.

“Good thing your sister blew your cover.”

Earl held his hands together and responded, “She's not my sister, she's my co-worker.” Looking up at the players, he found only hostility. “My point is, I want to play an honest game this time. I've got the cash for it.”

“Screw that. You can stay if you want, but you're not playing…”

Earl murmured some complaints to himself before accepting, “Fine.”

Instead of getting to play, Earl watched them play for each other's money. There was no denying his disinterest in the Blood Falcon situation, for all he wanted to do was situate himself with parlor cards.

“So...” Everyone glared at Earl, “The winner of the Grand Prix..?”

One man was fast to respond, “It's going to be Captain Falcon.”

Another man struck his fist down, “Samurai Goroh is going to sweep the prize money with ease! Captain Falcon is competing against two powerful rivals; he doesn't stand a chance.”

“But Goroh's an idiot…” the other man countered.

“Who do you think will win, Bendek?”

Earl smirked at the men, “Seppuku, without a doubt.”

“Seppuku? That man's a mess…”

Earl threw up a hand gesture of disapproval, “You don't know him like I do. If he wants something, he'll get it; one way or another.”

“Lieutenant Seppuku is still too green and he's competing against the big dogs for the win. There's no way he can win this…” 

The Korean was in complete disagreement with this, “I would bet that he'll take first place with no struggle, and once he wins the prize money, he'll probably share it with me, thus making me a rich man as well.” Many confused looks were conveyed toward him until he explained, “I _am_ his engineer, after all.”

 

 

Chiya did not find any salon, meaning it was in all likeliness removed from this part of the metropolis at some point. She looked on the map for anywhere else to go, but nothing interested her. It was beyond her comprehension what to do for the many days she would be on Aeropolis. _I wish those two weren't always doing stuff, I might even consider hanging out with Seppuku at this point…_ She soon stood still and began to fantasize about the next annual Grand Prix, where she would perhaps become an official racer. They still had to wrap up the gang war in Mute City before she could practice becoming a racer.

She remained still blinking in awe at this fantasy, but was then forced to the ground by a passing man. Chiya gritted her teeth and looked up at the walking figure who had just walked past her.

“Hey, wanker! What's the big idea!?” Just then, she caught sight of a brown fedora and coat on the man. “Hey, wait, Seppuku!”

She caught up with him and grabbed the tall man by the waist, but then found a cold chill go through her body. This wasn't Lieutenant Seppuku. The fedora and coat was brown, but the man still had a visor and scarf; he was paler than Seppuku. The man grinned at Chiya, revealing sharp teeth and chuckled. She gasped and looked down at the man's silver metal boots and spotted a skull.

 _Blood Falcon..!_ Chiya was quick to equip her handgun, but Blood Falcon stopped her by placing two fingers on its barrel. With two mere fingers, he put force onto the gun that disallowed her from raising it up. Chiya tried with all her might to raise the handgun, but he kept it down with supernatural strength.

“Seppuku, you say?” Chiya's eyes widened, unable to find the words needed for an answer. “So, you must be Chiya Flower...”

At that moment, Chiya's eyes widened like never before. She dropped her jaw in absolute shock and trembled on the spot, “H- How do you know that!?”

“Dark Million sees all, hears all, and controls all...” The clone placed his other hand over Chiya's cheek and chin, then began to rub his fingers all over her face. The Mysterian made constant grunts, feeling as though she were being violated. He soon stopped and concluded, “Tell Seppuku that he and I will meet after I win the Grand Prix…”

Chiya continued to gaze into the glowing white eyes of his visor. He was giving her a death stare—a gaze that assassinated her morale. “Wh- What are you going to do to Aeropolis?”

Blood Falcon did not humor her with an answer. He pushed her down onto the ground with ease. The first action Chiya took was to roll away and take aim—but he already vanished. The woman's eyes remained trembling where the evil clone had been standing. A quick scan of the area revealed that he had indeed vanished within seconds. Chiya had been caught off guard by Seppuku and Blood Falcon's striking similarities, and thus failed to blow him away while she had the chance. From what she could put together, Blood Falcon intended on causing mayhem _after_ the race in four days.

“I need to warn Seppuku!” she said frantically while beginning to run down the streets.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Earl continued on with a story pertaining to his life. “-and so, I've worked alongside Chiya and Seppuku ever since on a mission to disable Michael Chain's hold of the lower section of Mute City.”

One of the gamblers gave him an approving nod, “I like it. Your life could be the plot to a movie, but I feel that you may be stretching the truth about the girl.”

Earl shook his head, “No, that girl is a lot tougher than she looks. She's already been through a lot and has never cried once.”

“A girl doesn't get shot and not cry…”

“She's tough. As for Seppuku, he's a tactical genius; but I feel that he views us as mere resources.”

Just then, everyone at the table widened their eyes as the Man of Darkness himself stepped behind Earl. “Oh, is that so?”

Earl slapped his forehead, wishing that he hadn't heard that. Seppuku crossed his arms as the men all looked at him in amazement, “You and Chiya are smart... ...well, you are. I know that you two can handle tough situations, which is why I send you two off on the hard stuff. I pay you two well enough, if you don't think the cash and free residency is worth risking your life for, then leave.”

The Korean gulped, as he had no desire to be fired, “O- Of course I'm not leaving. Who would fix up the Red Dove?”

“Flower.”

Earl hummed in nervousness, “Okay, I suppose. But then you run the risk of having emblems of flowers and rabbits put on your machine.”

Seppuku grinned at Earl, “Hey, you have a have a point...”

One of the men raised an eyebrow at Seppuku, “Hey, wait a minute. Aren't you the guy who's a good friend and always there to help someone in need?”

Seppuku grabbed the man by the neck and slammed him down against the table, “What was that, now?”

“Be- Because I think that was a ridiculous introduction!”

 

 

 

 

Chiya walked down the streets with gritted teeth of distress. She felt it necessary to find Seppuku so that they may brainstorm on what to do about Blood Falcon. _If he can form another F-Zero alliance and kill Blood Falcon, the problem will be dealt with…_ She was wondering if that was too extreme of a thing to do, Blood Falcon was a super villain, but regardless, did have many fans. Killing Blood Falcon would damage Seppuku's reputation and perhaps even endanger his life.

“Chiya Flower.”

She spun around in an instant and faced a man in dirty clothing. She blinked at him with a serious expression, startled by the man.

“Do I know you?”

The man widened his eyes and shrugged, “You don't remember me? We were good friends back on Mysteria!”

Chiya widened her eyes at him in shock, but suddenly got an angry look, “Yeah, judging by your clothes you certainly could be one of my old _friends_.” She squinted with puckered lips, “But... you don't look Mysterian...”

“What? No. We had a lot of good times, you and me. I have someone with me I think you'll want to see…”

Chiya shook her head, “If it's Rex, you can tell him to go bugger off. I hate that bloke after breaking my heart on prom night.”

“No, no, no! You were good friends with this guy; I was thinking we could all sit down and reconnect a little, share some memories.”

Chiya narrowed her eyes with escalating suspicion, “I didn't have any _good_ friends…”

The man raised an eyebrow, “So, you're just going to turn your back on us then?”

Chiya groaned at him, but decided that she indeed had spare time to fool around, considering Blood Falcon would strike after the final race. Still, this was all very mysterious to her—not to mention this man was Caucasian and not Mysterian. Be as it may, she had a gun on her and could defend herself if brought into trouble.

“Fine,” she put her hand over her concealed weapon, “I'm interested to see how my _friends_ turned out after so many years…”

The man grinned and began walking down an alley, Chiya followed him down the alley where a lone door was. Chiya wasn't surprised that her old friends would use an alley for a hideout; she had the initial presumption that they were all still doing drug-related crimes. All in all, she somehow doubted that these were her friends at all—but perhaps muggers. The fact they knew her name and planet of birth was very mysterious, though. The man opened the door for her and bowed, Chiya entered the structure with hesitance—the room was pitch dark.

“Why is it so dark in here-” The door shut behind her, for the man had not entered with her. Chiya gritted her teeth in fear, “Yep, saw this coming…”

At that moment the lights turned on, revealing Samurai Goroh and many pirates. Confetti burst into the air along with cheers. Everyone proceeded to cheer the word, “Surprise!”

Chiya stomped her foot down, “I knew it! I knew something like this was going to happen!”

Goroh revealed a grin, “Thank you for coming to the party, now, you'll be coming with us…”

“If I refuse..?”

Goroh's blade swung up between her eyes, almost striking her forehead. “Come on, you should know what happens if you refuse...” he said a grin.

She began to shake in fear as the tip of his blade poked her, “W- Wow, you make deciding much easier...”

 

 

 

 

Seppuku was now sitting at the gambling table with everyone else; like Earl, he was there for the conversation. Other people in the parlor were looking over at their table, interested in what Seppuku was doing here.

The Man of Darkness went on to explain, “I never saw a point in gambling for fun, there has to be money involved.”

“So far it sounds like you do nothing for fun,” one man pointed out.

Earl looked up at him with a desire to laugh, because what he said was true. Seppuku crossed his arms together and challenged, “Entertainment is pointless. It wastes time and doesn't get you anywhere, and as a result of getting too drunk off of fun, you'll have found that you are now an old man dying on your bed wishing you had used that time to get more done with your pitiful life.”

Everyone was staring at him with discontent faces, “Dude, that's so dark…”

Before a response could be given, Seppuku jolted up straight in shock, Earl turned and asked, “What's wrong?”

Seppuku pulled out a ringing device from his coat pocket, “Flower just signaled that she's in trouble…”

“What!? What kind of trouble could she have gotten into here?”

“I don't know, but I told her to call me only when there is no way of escaping from the situation, meaning she's in deep trouble…”

Earl widened his eyes and guessed, “Blood Falcon…”

Seppuku launched himself up and began walking toward the door. He looked at his device for her exact location. Earl ran after him, now very concerned for Chiya. Seppuku exited the building and growled at the device.

“She keeps pressing for a signal, but her position keeps changing. It's as if she's…” Seppuku then lifted his head up and gritted his teeth.

“Where is she?”

Seppuku sighed and pointed up toward the sky. Up in the sky was a large pirate ship lifting off from the city. Chiya had been kidnapped by the Goroh Clan and was already leaving Aeropolis.

Full of emotion, the Korean ran forward and spat, “No!” He took a few steps forward as the ship took its leave. “Damn you, Goroh!”

“She got herself in real trouble…”

“Well, how do we get her back!?”

Seppuku held his chin to contemplate on what to do, “As long as she keeps her device hidden, I'll always know where she is…”

Earl turned with a hostile face, “What? But we need to go save her!”

“We don't have a ship.”

Earl sighed in disbelief, for this was correct. They had no way of reaching Chiya at the moment, and thus no resolution in plain sight. Earl shook his fist in anger and tapped his foot down in constant motion. Seppuku was trying to remain calm, accepting that Goroh wanted her alive.

“Bendek, calm down. They didn't kill her on the spot, meaning they don't intend on killing her at all.”

“There are many things criminals can do to an innocent girl besides killing her. Who'll stop them, the police?”

Seppuku looked into the sky, still remaining calm. He knew that they would get Chiya back one way or another, but Earl was right; they had a limited time frame to act before something bad would happen to Chiya.

As seconds went by, Earl soon came to a simple and somewhat obvious conclusion, “I'll pay all the money I have to buy a small ship!”

Seppuku tried to disarm this plan by explaining, “We have nowhere to put the ship in Mute City.”

“Whatever, we just need it for now.”

Seppuku raised his eyebrows in shock at the sacrifice he was willing to make, “You would spend that much money to save _one_ person?”

“Dammit, she isn't ' _one person'._ She's my friend, your friend, and one damn devoted member of this organization!”

The tall man was left staring at him in shock, speechless. He could find nothing to counter the Korean with. Earl sighed while looking back up into the sky, Goroh's ship was now out of sight.

“May God protect that poor girl…”

 

 

 

 

Chiya was inside Goroh's ship being escorted by several pirates to a room. She had not been stripped of her equipment for reasons beyond her, it was possible that they didn't know of the weapon she possessed. Chiya was left unrestrained, however, did have several shotguns trained at her head as they moved. The group brought her to a Japanese-styled sliding door. Captain Fortuna pushed the door open and instructed her to enter. She glanced at him without making a sound, then entered the room. Fortuna closed the door behind her.  A table was in the middle of the room with a carpet. Samurai Goroh was drinking tea on one side of the table, he sat on the floor, rather than with a chair.

“Have a cup of tea, I insist…”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows with a disturbed frown. She approached the other side of the table and sat down looking at the tea that was already set up on her side. Goroh had a blank expression and was not looking at her, Chiya sat down in the same traditional style as him, then grabbed the small cup of tea with an awkward feeling.

She dipped her head down and muttered, “Thanks…”

The two sat alone in the room making no sounds, Chiya took occasional sips of her tea, but was in mood for such ridiculousness. Goroh grinned at her about a minute later.

“You must be relieved to be free of Seppuku…”

“There's nothing wrong with what he does…”

Goroh did not respond to this, rather, he returned to his tea. Chiya's eye began to twitch. _What the Hell is going on..?_

About two minutes went by without anything being said, all Goroh did was drink tea. He soon looked up at her again.

“At first I was considering making you a part of my pirate crew, but I had an ally in Mute City tell me about his failed attempt to do that with you.”

Chiya gritted her teeth, “Brock Blackdice…”

Goroh raised an eyebrow, but then returned to his tea instead of responding. At long last, Chiya broke the peace and serenity of the moment by striking her fists down on the table.

“Enough of the damn tea!” Goroh grunted in shock. “What do you want with me!?”

“We're going to collect your bounty. Luckily for you, we intend on turning you in alive.”

Chiya eyes widened, “Bounty? What bounty?”

Goroh chuckled, “I was just as surprised. How could such a sweet young girl end up with a bounty on her rear? But they didn't specify what you did, only that they want you...”

Again, she struck both fists down in rage. “I've done nothing to the Federation!”

“Oh no, not the Federation...” Chiya raised both her eyebrows in shock, expecting a stranger answer, “We're extraditing you back to Mysteria…”

Chiya felt as though her heart had just dropped, she trembled at his intentions. Goroh looked at the shocked Chiya and grinned, holding no remorse for this young victim. Chiya gulped and began to hyperventilate.

“Th- This isn't happening…” she grasped her forehead with a traumatized face. “This can't be happening…”


	26. Lap 26

==Lap 27=

 

Chiya was standing around Goroh's ship in a state of depression; it didn't look like she would be saved this time. Goroh decided that killing her was pointless, as he had learned that the government of Mysteria placed a minor bounty on her head worth collecting. Mysteria was a very ruthless and isolated planet in the eyes of the universe. A former colony of the Galactic Space Federation, Mysteria now adopted an agnatic-cognatic monarchy that followed its own rules. Mysteria did not report crime to the Galactic Federation, which is why Chiya's records are almost impossible to obtain. The Federation reported no acts of crime on Chiya Flower, but Mysteria did.

The Mysterian leaned against a window in the ship and sighed. She was not restrained, but saw no point in starting a fight on the ship where she had no way of escaping, she would need to kill every last pirate to survive—including Goroh. Her only chance would be to get violent once she arrives on Mysteria, but at that point she would be fighting the Mysterian police, thus making her a true criminal.

Without noticing, Goroh had walked up from behind and complimented, “You seem quite brave.”

Chiya narrowed her eyes with crossed arms, “Sure.”

“The last time we captured a girl your age, we had to mop the floor with her tears.”

Chiya let out a single sarcastic chuckle, “Yeah, that happens when you ruin lives…” She turned back toward the window and looked out toward the starts, “I was already scared to return to my planet far before I learned that I had a bounty.”

For a moment Goroh almost expressed sorrow, but soon gave her a disapproving shake, “Money is all that matters. As long as there's a reward; I needn't concern myself for your emotions.”

“Good for you...”

Goroh walked away and left Chiya alone in the room. She continued to stare at Aeropolis, which was appearing smaller as they flew further into space. Chiya could not envision herself arriving on Mysteria, she still had faith that Seppuku might think of something. Under pure desperation, she pressed down on her tracking device again in hopes that Seppuku hadn't lost sight of her yet.

 

 

Seppuku stood around the starport of Aeropolis, where all private pilots went to land their ships. He was hoping to purchase a ship off of someone, but getting someone to surrender one would be difficult. During his search, he came across someone leaning against a wall wearing a pilot's helmet. The pilot was elderly, thus leading Seppuku to believe that he could be bargained with.

Shooting a finger forth, Seppuku shouted, “Hey, you!”

The old pilot jolted up startled, “Y- Yes?”

At that moment the Man of Darkness proceeded to march forward while still pointing, “I want your ship!”

The pilot looked Seppuku deep in the eyes with great fear and soon took notice of the rifle Seppuku had on his back. Panicked, he ran away in desperation to live. Seppuku stopped moving and sighed.

“That's the third person who's run away from me…”

Just after saying this, Earl ran into Seppuku with a key in his hand, “I got one!”

Seppuku took a moment to observe the key, “You're an idiot…”

“What?”

“That's a key for a regular ship without weapons or shields. We'll be destroyed before we even get near Goroh.”

“Whatever, it's a ship, isn't it? It's your fault for not keeping an eye on Chiya, so we're doing this regardless of the ship type.”

Seppuku chuckled, “My fault? I was beginning to think that _you_ owned her, but here you are saying that she's my responsibility.”

Earl narrowed his eyes, “No one _owns_ her…”

“Well, Goroh does as of now, but we mustn't waste time. I still have her location so we need to get going.”

With optimism, Earl tossed the key up into the air and caught it, “Then let's save the damsel!”

“Again…” added Seppuku.

 

 

Chiya walked around Goroh's ship with no direction in mind, what came as a surprise to her was that no one seemed to regard her as much of a threat. She walked throughout the ship without being pestered by any of the pirates. She was finding little to do but grieve over her inevitable fate. A dark part of her mind made her wonder if she had seen Earl and Seppuku for the last time, expecting that Mysteria may consider execution. If Chiya were to be locked away in prison for many years, she would move on with the aspiration of one day meeting with Earl and Seppuku again. Despite having so much to lose, like her F-Zero machine; Earl and Seppuku were all she could think about. _Those two would sooner risk their lives to break me out of prison than to forget about me…_

The Mysterian struck her fist against the wall with gritted teeth. No matter what happened to her, Goroh would pay the price. A somewhat sadistic smirk came onto her face while thinking about Goroh, she could feel darkness entering her emotions at the mere thought of him. _I'll get out of jail and hunt the bastard, hunt him simply for the fun of doing so…_ Chiya was becoming a much different person at that moment; her frustration had reached a level she had never experienced. Samurai Goroh was without a doubt her nemesis, even more of an enemy than Michael Chain and Brock Blaskovitz.

Captain Fortuna was watching her from a close distance, taking note of her anger. He gritted his teeth in fear of her, then pulled up a communication device.

“Goroh, I think we should consider locking our prisoner away. We may be underestimating her…” Chiya removed her hand from the wall and continued walking down the hallway. Fortuna gulped, “I _highly_ consider locking her up…”

 

 

Earl and Seppuku approached a small cargo ship that appeared capable of loading at least one vehicle if needed. Seppuku growled at the sight of the ship Earl had bought.

“You got a bad deal.”

“It's an _okay_ ship, Seppuku…”

Seppuku had strong feelings about this claim, “If we get blown up in this soda can, I'll haunt your soul for an eternity…”

Earl cringed at the thought of being haunted by Seppuku, then proceeded into the ship as well.

“Can a soul kill itself?” he joked.

Upon walking into the ship Seppuku grinded his teeth. The previous owner had not taken the time to remove his possessions from the ship, and along with this, the ship was littered with garbage. Earl looked around the ship with a displeased face, the was somewhat cramped except for the vehicular storage area.

The Korean snickered, “This is still better than our base in Mute City…”

“Make yourself useful and figure out how we're going to dock with Goroh's ship.”

Earl nodded and continued to the back of the ship, Seppuku studied the dashboard of the cockpit. Since they were flying a cargo ship, they would need to dock with Goroh's ship as quickly as possible to avoid utter destruction by its weapons. Seppuku had already explained that they could not keep this ship, for they had nowhere to hide it in Mute City. Earl found a cylinder door with a small docking bridge behind it, there was a control panel next to the door which would allow them to extend the bridge into Goroh's ship.

“I Found it.”

Seppuku nodded and turned on the ignition, “Good, let's roll. Goroh has been a thorn in my side long enough…”

 

 

Chiya was much calmer and now inspired to stay strong through this conflict. Imagining the day she could kill Goroh was the only thing keeping her motivated about arriving on Mysteria. She was still in a bad mood, however, for returning to Mysteria was never in her plans. Either way, she would have had to return if she planned on F-Zero racing. She decided that one last thing she could do to Goroh before being exchanged to Mysteria would be to try her best in sabotaging his ship. She was moving around in search of the main components of the ship—the engine in particular. Chiya had no clue what a spaceship engine looked like but assumed that it could only be a bit more difficult to work with than a regular vehicle engine.

The further she came into the ship, the more pirates stared in suspicion. They were were under orders to let her roam free, even when she entered an area of the ship that shouldn't concern her. Her walk soon revealed pipes connected to the ceiling with oxygen decals, this indicated that she was closing in on the central parts of the ship. Though she didn't have a vivid idea of what she could or would do to Goroh's ship, she was prepared to do anything just to anger Goroh.

She soon opened a door that appeared frozen, the door's window was covered in frost. As she entered the room it became abundantly clear to her that whatever was in here needed to remain cool at all times. That was when she realized that this was the engine room.

“Let's see what I can do…”

The reasoning for the freezing was to prevent the engine from overheating at all costs. Chiya looked around the room but found that the engines were too large to smash, all she could see was a computer terminal hooked up to the engines. _I don't know how to hack, but I'm sure it isn't that hard…_ She was shocked to find the terminal displaying many coded queries to choose from, she lowered her eyebrows while trying to concentrate. Each query contained letters and symbols she did not recognize.

“U—uh…” She stuck her tongue out and pressed a random query, “The... green option, perhaps..?”

 

 

Goroh's ship came into Earl and Seppuku's sight, the risk they now faced was whether they could get to the ship without being blasted into space dust. Seppuku rubbed his forehead with a quirked mouth, the cargo ship could move much faster than Goroh's ship, but the size difference was very intimidating. Their only chance of surviving would be to dock with the ship as soon as possible, not allowing Goroh any time to blow up their ship.

“Get ready to use that docking bridge if we somehow manage to get out of weapon range,” ordered Seppuku.

Earl nodded, “No problem.”

Seppuku turned up the speed of the ship and came at the pirate ship much faster.

 

 

Samurai Goroh stood on the command bridge when one of his men approached him, “Sir, unknown vessel approaching us at maximum speed…”

Goroh smirked, “Blow it up.”

“W- We still haven't fixed our weapons system…”

The pirate leader shook his fist, “Of course the best pirate crew in the universe doesn't have weapons...”

 

 

Chiya gritted her teeth in frustration after trying to hack into the engines for a few minutes. She growled at the computer before puckered her lips in excitement.

“Oh! I have an idea!”

She began to kick the computer to pieces, making sure that every part of the terminal ceased working. After doing this, a very loud powering off sound could be heard. She had brought the ship to a complete stop. Though successful, she widened her eyes in fear and gasped. _I didn't think that would be so loud…_ She backed away from the sparking terminal and tried sneaking out the door.

“Hey!” a pirate shouted at her.

Chiya jolted up with wide eyes, then proceeded to run away panicking. Several other pirates began to pursue her close from behind. Because of her bravery, Goroh's ship had been immobilized; but she was now doomed to run out of options. There was nowhere to run, she was running for her life at this point. She didn't want to look back and see how many were chasing her, fortunately, it was clear to her that no pirates were chasing her with weaponry for she was running without gunfire. The Mysterian ran into the main part of the ship, running through doors in a desperate bid to lose them. More pirates would add up to the chase as she continued to run. From a certain point of view, this chase was very comical looking.

She led the pirates on for a good minute, but soon ran straight into a door under the presumption that it would open automatically like the others.

“Ow…” she muttered while holding her forehead, “That's the docking bridge door, stupid…” she muttered in humility.

All of the pirates caught up with her, but only two of them had shotguns, the rest were unarmed. Fortuna came walking through the crowd of pirates and approached her with passionate anger. Shy and afraid, Chiya smiled and waved to him.

“I knew you were a pest from the start, but Goroh insisted that we give you some freedom in this ship...” he spoke with narrowed eyes.

Chiya stared at him fearfully knowing that it was all over. She had nowhere else to run; all she would be able to remember while locked up on Mysteria was how she managed to bust Goroh's engines with what time she had left. Chiya then widened her eyes after coming to the sudden realization that they were going to kill her right against the door.

“I think Goroh will forgive me if I choose to terminate you…”

Chiya widened her eyes and gasped at the sight of the now laughing pirates. No one could save her, she was looking into the eyes of blood lusting pirates who were now prepared to kill her—she would never see her friends again. She knew that she had nothing to lose, so she took advantage of their laughter and dropped down to the floor and slid into one of the armed pirates. The other pirate took aim at Chiya in response, but was grabbed by her and thrown down. Fortuna prepared to apprehend Chiya, but she had gotten hold of a shotgun and stood up angrily, now aiming the shotgun at the twenty-some pirates.

“S- Step the Hell back! I've got an assault rifle!” She then lowered her eyebrows and looked down at the shotgun, “I... think..?”

Every pirate backed away from her and came to the wall; Chiya had close to the entire crew held hostage. Fortuna looked around in desperation for a solution, but realized that they had underestimated her—Chiya won this round. Fortuna looked down and sighed at the embarrassing change of tide. She kicked the other shotgun on the floor behind her, giving the pirates no chance of gaining an edge on her.

“Okay, listen up! All of you are going to..!” She stopped herself and hummed, “Um... All of you are going to...” Several pirates exchanged confused glances, she then snapped her fingers. “Compliments! Start complimenting my appearance or someone gets hurt!”

Just then, Seppuku opened the docking bridge door while aiming his rifle, Earl came in behind him holding a handgun. The two were ready for combat, but then lowered their weapons and grunted in utter shock at what they were looking at. They were behind Chiya, who had the entire crew hostage against the wall.

Chiya turned her head toward the two in surprise, “Uh...” she smiled and lowered her eyebrows, “Hi—i!”

 

 

Goroh stood alone on the Command Deck with his officers, he had a look of seriousness as one of the pirates turned to face him, “We've been boarded by the cargo ship.”

Goroh growled and clenched his fists in anger, “Boarded by a cargo ship? This is ridiculous!”

“Damn right.”

The pirate leader spun around, revealing Seppuku with his rifle aimed forward. Goroh unsheathed his katana and looked at Seppuku with little fear.

“Seppuku!”

“That's right.”

Goroh grinned at him and got into a combat stance, ready to duel Seppuku at last. A rifle versus a sword. Both were looking at each other with serious faces, the common pirates in the deck were watching in fear.

“Here to save your girl, Seppuku?” 

“Didn't look like she needed my help. By the time we entered she had your entire crew at gunpoint.”

Goroh shook his head while chuckling, “It has been a slow day…”

Seppuku took this moment to fire at Goroh, who had knocked his bullet away with a swift swipe of his katana. Seppuku gritted his teeth and lowered his rifle for a moment, impressed by Goroh's talent. He  then lifted the rifle up again and fired two more shots, both of which Goroh sliced through with some superhuman abilities.

Again, the lieutenant lowered his rifle and proceeded to clap his hands, “You've got talent with that stick…”

Goroh tipped his glasses down and offered a fierce gaze, “Face it, Seppuku, you're outmatched!”

“Two can play at that game…”

Seppuku reached into his coat and revealed an ancient sabre; ' _God Save the Queen'_ was imprinted on the blade. Goroh raised an eyebrow in shock, but was not intimidated by Seppuku's sudden blade.

“I never practice with this thing anymore, but I bet I can still beat you with ease,” Seppuku challenged.

“Ha!” Goroh laughed his comment off, “Please, that's a mere gentleman's blade. I could cut down an entire tree with my blade!”

The Man of Darkness brought his sword up and grinned. “Then, prove it!” The two dashed into one another and clashed swords.

 

 

Chiya and Earl had just sealed the pirate crew inside of the cargo bay yet again, and for the second time the three had brought humility to the crew.

The Mysterian exhaled in relief, “I had a feeling I'd see you guys again.”

Earl crossed his arms together, “Did they do anything bad to you?”

“Nope, they had other plans for me.”

Earl raised an eyebrow expecting an answer from her, but she shook her head, unwilling to reveal what it was. She then turned around and faced the elevator with bravery.

“We're not in the clear yet, we have to make sure Seppuku defeats Goroh!”

Earl widened his eyes at her, surprised by her eagerness for battle, “Well…”

 

 

Goroh knocked Seppuku down onto the floor and was about to decapitate him, but the man evaded the execution by rolling away; he finished the evasion by kicking Goroh's chin. Seppuku launched himself back up and retreated while positioning his fedora the correct way.

The samurai chuckled at Seppuku, “That's the second time I've almost cut your head off. You're out of your league, kid…”

Seppuku grinded his teeth and leapt toward him again. Seppuku threw all of his strength into some of his throws but was not gaining any superiority over Goroh in battle. Goroh once again kicked Seppuku down with ease, and Seppuku yet again dodged a near decapitation.

“I'm called ' _Samurai'_ Goroh for a reason, you fool!”

Seppuku still lacked fatigue and was unwilling to give up. He clashed with Goroh again, “You have a tendency to never shut your damn mouth!”

Chiya and Earl soon arrived on the deck and found the two sword fighting. Both were surprised to see Seppuku fight with a sword.

Chiya aimed her shotgun up, eager to finish off Goroh herself. It was at that same moment Goroh knocked Seppuku's sword into the air. Seppuku leapt back and pulled out his rifle as an improvised melee weapon. Chiya searched for an angle to shoot Goroh, but feared that the spraying bullets of the shotgun may hit Seppuku.

At long last, Seppuku asked, “What do you want with Flower, anyway?”

Goroh slashed his sword down upon his weapon, but this hadn't scratched it in the slightest, the rifle was very durable.

“I planned on collecting her bounty, but you interrupted our travel!”

Seppuku raised an eyebrow, “Bounty?”

Chiya widened her eyes with a dropping jaw, as she didn't want her friends to hear about this. Goroh continued pushing his sword down, but cared to explain.

“She has a bounty on Mysteria for some horrid crime.”

Seppuku backed away from Goroh in complete shock, “ _That_ bad? Jeez.”

Earl gritted his teeth in shock and distanced himself from Chiya out of fear, “Yikes!”

Chiya faced Earl and let out a very heavy gasp of shock and sorrow. She felt as though her heart had been crushed by Earl's decision to distance himself from her. Her only friend had reacted as if she were some type of mass serial killer, and this made her want to burst into tears.

“Lies!” she shouted.

At this point Goroh and Seppuku had ceased engaging each other, rather, they were staring at the Mysterian in question. Seppuku appeared to be interested most of all, not realizing that the crime Chiya committed was large enough to make her a wanted criminal. Earl appeared almost frightened that she could commit such a crime.

“I- I did nothing wrong! I did things I'm not proud of on Mysteria, but I know what they're accusing me of and it's wrong! I- I swear, the bounty is just because I ran away!”

Seppuku held his hand out at Chiya, instructing her to stop talking. He then looked over at Goroh, “Fine, let's just finish this…” He dug into his pocket and took out a large quantity of credits. He threw the credits at Goroh, “Let's just end this feud now and call things square.”

Goroh stared at Seppuku with intensity, making no changes in expression. Chiya was looking down at the ground arms crossed with hurt feelings, Earl was looking back and forth between Chiya and Goroh.

The pirate leader put away his sword and accepted the offer of white peace, “Very well…” The two approached each other and shook hands, “Excellent work stopping my men before,” Goroh complimented.

Seppuku nodded, “Thanks, I was impressed that your men almost defeated an entire platoon of trained officers on that transport. Not bad, not at all.”

Goroh pointed at Earl, “Hey, sorry for stabbing you before,” Earl lowered his eyebrows with a quivering mouth in shock at what was happening, “To be fair, though, you did have that coming after doing so much damage to my ship. But no hard feelings…”

Earl gulped, “Yeah, no problem…”

Chiya wasn't regarding the strange occurrence very much, her face was red and her feelings destroyed. She glanced over at Earl and glared for a moment, then proceeded back to the elevator alone. Chiya felt betrayed by her one friend.

In the end, the three got out of the situation without a problem, but Chiya now realized just how trusting Earl really was of her, something that would take healing. He hadn't given her a chance to explain herself before distancing himself from her. Though one might argue that this was a mere reaction, one such as Chiya would see more. Days remained until the final race and Chiya would inform Seppuku about her encounter with Blood Falcon once they got back to Aeropolis. For now, Chiya simply wanted to enter a state of isolation.


	27. Lap 27

==Lap 28=

 

The day had passed and the three were back on Aeropolis; Samurai Goroh and Lieutenant Seppuku had reached a truce. While all would _seem_ good, Chiya was very offended by Earl's initial reaction to hearing about her bounty. Despite the fact Seppuku and Earl had come to save Chiya, she rode back to Aeropolis demanding privacy—never thanking either of the two for rescuing her. The final race was approaching and with every passing day more people began to gather on Aeropolis. Chiya had informed Seppuku about her encounter with Blood Falcon before going to bed upset.

Now with such a frightening day over, Earl began his day by searching for Seppuku in the abandoned building that they were using for the week. He entered the store section of the building and found Seppuku sitting at the counter with his fedora tilted down. Earl made his way to the counter, where Seppuku sat motionless as though he were sleeping. Still, the Man of Darkness made a grumbling noise as Earl approached him.

“What..?” he demanded.

“I'm bored,” Earl explained. “Does the Red Dove need maintenance or anything?”

“No.”

Earl sighed; Seppuku did not appear interested in talking, as he continued to sit still with a blank expression.

“I would go back to gamble, but those guys still don't trust me; and I couldn't possibly bring myself to watch them play a game-”

“I don't care what you do, now leave me be.”

The order struck Earl as offensive, “Fine, I'll just wait until Chiya wakes up, then.” Seppuku grinned and looked up at him, “Maybe she won't be as much of a bore.”

“She isn't here.”

Earl bobbed his head up in shock, surprised by this statement, “She gets captured one day and is already roaming the streets alone?”

“I think it's fair to warn you that she's still pretty mad. I'd stay away from her until she feels better.”

Earl chuckled, “I bet you were aggravating her again.”

Seppuku looked back down and shrugged, “Trust me, I know how women are manufactured...”

“Manufactured?”

“Either be a gentleman or leave her be until the mood swing is over.”

Earl was failing to grasp the big picture Seppuku was painting, but from what he understood—Chiya was unhappy and feeling down. He was almost certain that Seppuku was to blame for her declining mood. Overall, he decided it would be within his best interest to find Chiya and try to cheer her up.

 

 

 

 

Alone, Chiya sat in the cantina of the gambling parlor. She didn't drink alcohol, so she drank anything else that was offered at the table—she even refused to drink wine. Her beanie hat was lowered more than usual as she held her right cheek at the counter. She gritted her teeth while contemplating about everything she had been through up to this point in time. She made many accomplishments for Seppuku's organization and even had an F-Zero machine almost complete, but at the same time she had broken various laws and committed murder against gangsters—she felt like Seppuku's puppet.

It was after a brief period of searching that Earl had located Chiya, he threw himself into the chair beside her. She gave him a very brief glance, but then swatted her arms down and looked away. The Korean saw nothing unusual about this behavior, and thus he spoke.

“So, we're on good terms with Goroh now. Crazy stuff, eh?” he finished with a grin.

Chiya did not respond to him, rather, she gave an unenthusiastic grunt. Earl's grin was broken on the spot as he now got an idea of how upset Chiya was.

He remained seated and stroked his chin in contemplation. _Chiya's definitely having a bad day. Time to crank out the Bendek moves..._

With a sly grin, Earl repositioned himself over the counter and gave the Mysterian an interested look, “So, you're looking very good today,” Chiya's right ear moved in response. “Whatever you did today, your beauty is stunning.”

To his surprise Chiya did not turn to face him, but she did give him a response, “I haven't showered since we left home...”

The answer was short, simple, and true; enough to leave Earl with a shocked face of regret. _I... probably should have thought that out some more..._ He brushed off the failed compliment and cleared his throat; an uneasy silence continued to divide the two. And so he remained seated wondering if she would ever speak to him in an enthusiastic manner. His general assumption was that she was in a bad mood and perhaps embarrassed about her capture.

Many moments of silence went by. Every now and then Chiya's head would shake, which described her urge to face the man she considered her best friend. She resisted this urge, though, and continued to give him cold treatment. Earl did not take in offense from the cold treatment, he just waited for her to acknowledge his existence. Soon, Chiya's blazing right eye became visible as she turned her head a slight bit.

In a half sarcastic tone, she said, “Yikes. You should be careful around me; I'm wanted on a planet. I may have the urge to kill you.”

The Korean raised a curious brow her way, not knowing how to respond. With one eye she searched deep into his soul, her face demanded a response—but it seemed as though she were waiting for a specific response; as if she knew what to expect from him.

“Uh, no... Don't be ridiculous, Chi'...” Earl revealed a nervous smile, “Believe me, I trust you. Whatever happened on your planet is behind you and maybe even relevant to your autism. It wouldn't be fair for me to judge you off of things I don't know.”

Chiya turned her head away from him again and resumed the cold treatment. Earl was trying to figure out how one little bit of bad information about her could create such a hostile person, especially when he didn't care so much about her supposed crime. He did not care that she had a bounty on Mysteria because he knew her as a nice and pleasant person to be around. Because of the disability she claimed to have, he also had to consider the fact that whatever got a price on her head may have had to do with mentality; which he wouldn't view as fair reasoning for execution or imprisonment. There were many theories surrounding him, but for whatever the reason, her anger seemed to have full control.

As moments went by it was becoming clear to Earl that she was bothered by _his_ presence, but at the same time seemed like she was trying to prove some kind of point to him. He was set on the idea that Chiya was angry at Seppuku for not protecting her from Goroh and humiliated for having been captured yet again; but the true reality of the situation soon unveiled itself. She had spoken to Seppuku right after her capture without much of a problem, but hadn't spoken to Earl since they reunited. The cold truth was obvious now; she wasn't angry that the truth of her past was now public knowledge—she was mad at Earl in particular.

“What's bothering you?” he asked with great concern.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, well, that's obviously not true.” Chiya clenched her fist as an immediate reaction, “Trust me, it doesn't concern me what you did on your planet. I don't really need to know about those things.”

“Yeah, you don't.”

Earl clamped his face and sighed, making any progress with her was going to be difficult so as long as she refused to cooperate. As he struggled, Chiya held up a red drink and took a sip. Earl studied the glass in desperate search of something to say to her that might lure her out of the devoted anger.

“So, what's that you're treating yourself to?”

Chiya placed the beverage back on the table with great force and spun around, “I have to get back to work.”

Earl flailed his hands in frustration, “What work?”

“Work stuff…”

The man already had enough, and so he took a more inappropriate approach, “Dammit, why are you so mad at me?” he asked with a raised volume.

Chiya launched out of her seat to leave, but first spun around to face him so fast that her hair could be heard whipping across her shoulder.

“You don't really like me! You're just using me because you're bored at your job!” Earl widened his eyes in shock, “Yesterday, you made it pretty clear that you would abandon me in situations when you crept away from me!” Chiya's eyes widened as she proceeded to wiggle her fingers around, “Yikes, Chiya! I didn't realize you're such a bloody wanker, please don't kill me! I'm scared of girls with bounties!”

Earl grunted with a somewhat offended look, “Are you serious? You're mad at me because of an initial reaction!?”

The Mysterian's left cheek twitched as she gazed into his eyes, she had a furious expression and an unbreakable stance. Earl had a challenging look on his face, believing this to be a clear overreaction. Several people in the building were watching, finding entertainment in the two shouting at each other. Chiya shook her head at him in slow motions, seeing the situation in a very different way.

“Please leave me alone, Mr. Bendek...”

Thus Earl watched the woman leave, though he was far from understanding her anger. To him, her reason for being angry was a clear overreaction. The question Earl now had was whether it would be wise to continue trying to make her feel better or let it be with the bid that she would get over these feelings in time.

 Earl remained standing in the exact same position, finding Chiya's reasoning more ridiculous every moment that went by. She was claiming to be angry at him because of how he reacted when learning of her bounty. The truth was that this didn't affect how he feels about Chiya; she's a kind heart and someone he'd like to see safe. Be that as it may, he couldn't agree with her current issue with him, for he found her reasoning to be ridiculous beyond all comprehension. Whether to pursue or leave her be was gambling in its own; something Earl specialized in. But in this case, he was playing an unfamiliar game called 'Chiya Flower'.

 

 

 

Chiya walked the streets of Aeropolis but was doing no work of any sort as she claimed. She was infuriated most of her walk, but was making a gradual change into sorrow. With a dipped head and emotional sigh, she proceeded to consider many things about her situation. Though her grudge remained on Earl, she had somewhat of a temper toward Seppuku as well; he was handling her mood in a neutral way—which happened to leave her paranoid and disgruntled. Alas, she would need to deal with the two with an expectation that things would resolute. She hoped for this, but she had little willingness to further attach herself to Earl; she felt that her attachment to Earl had crushed her in the end.

Soon she stood still and exhaled to deviate her thoughts. The past day she had encountered Blood Falcon on the streets, who had obvious advantages over her in terms of strength. The big question remained on her mind, even with internal conflicts surrounding the woman.

_What was Blood Falcon doing up here..?_

Chiya's lust for violent action had ceased as she returned to a pacifist lifestyle. She still hated Samurai Goroh but no longer had any justification to kill him now that an agreement had been made. Blood Falcon on the other hand was a super villain who committed many crimes. Killing the clone would be in the right, regardless of her moral values.

As if Chiya wasn't angry enough at her two companions, Seppuku and Earl continued to treat this mission with lack of precaution, unlike her, who was prioritizing the mission. She knew Blood Falcon could be playing a ruse on them by claiming he would strike after the race when in actuality he could strike at any time. Only Chiya seemed to realize the importance of staying vigilant and on the offensive.

The woman had conflicted priorities. She wished to locate Blood Falcon again or find information on him; however, there was also her dilemma with Earl which encompassed the majority of her mind. Either way, her thoughts soon brought her to the racetrack to see what it looks like. The entrance doors were closed, yet for some reason people surrounded the area. Stands selling racer souvenirs were already set up and getting business, there appeared to be less than usual, but the racers who had a chance to win the Grand Prix had the most publicity at their stands. Chiya walked through the crowd and saw a Samurai Goroh stand; which was full of replica swords, headbands, glasses, and toys relevant to Goroh.

_I can't believe anyone would support that bastard..._

Turning her head revealed fans surrounding a Blood Falcon stand, this was even more appalling to her. She noticed that the stand sold helmets similar to Blood Falcon's, though they did not appear as authentic as the broken helmet Seppuku owned. It was soon after discovering this that she saw something for the first time ever—a Seppuku stand.

Her eyes widened in shock as she began approaching it, even more surprising was that there were several people around the stand. Perhaps this was the long awaited day that Seppuku gained fan recognition.

Chiya approached the stand and looked down at all of the items for sale. Fedoras, scarves, toy models of the _Red Dove_ , and posters. Amongst these things, something caught her eye in particular; photos of the _Red Dove_. Beside these photos was a plate labeled 'autographed _'_. The price for the autographed photos were very high, but the salesman acquired profit nonetheless. The salesman soon faced Chiya with a smirk and motioned a hand over the photos.

“Ah, yet another Seppuku fan here for an autograph?” Chiya lowered her brows in suspicion. “You should buy one while they're cheap, once he becomes famous you'll never be able to afford one.”

Chiya's gaze was bland and intimidating while other fans gazed in excitement. In the end, Chiya narrowed her eyes at the man and fired off a simple accusation.

“These are fake.”

The salesman bobbed his figure up with raised brows, “Not true, Lieutenant Seppuku signed every one of these.”

“When?”

The salesman lowered his eyebrows and grunted, “Yesterday...”

Chiya shook her head in disgust, “Funny, because I'm one of his workers and as I recall he was behind a desk most of the day.” The salesman began to twitch at her in anger, “Besides, he would never sign an autograph; not even for me, and we're friends.”

Chiya's claim was without supporting facts, but so was the salesman's claim of owning legitimate autographs. Regardless, the crowd appeared to be siding with Chiya. The salesman was forced to enter damage control mode.

“Alright, alright; get out of here, crazy woman.”

“I want my money back!” a fan shouted.

The salesman gasped as a horde of angry fans surrounded his stand, and Chiya watched without remorse for her actions as his stand was invaded by the mob. The salesman disappeared into the crowd; but this was only the beginning to a much larger conflict about to erupt. Approaching from her rear came many prideful Goroh fans.

“You should all save your money, there's no way Seppuku will win the Grand Prix!” a Goroh fan shouted.

Seppuku fans redirected their attention onto the rivaling fan base, one person answered, “You looking for a fight?”

Chiya remained between the two groups of disgruntled fans; both sides looked ready to clash with one another like warriors. The fans had erratic zeal, unlike Chiya, who would never take F-Zero so far. The Mysterian searched in desperation for a way to escape the crowd, disgruntled fans were now boxing her in from all sides. The fan desire to charge into combat built with every insult, Chiya would be swept up into the fight if she didn't escape.

Just when all seemed too problematic, Earl had grabbed her arm and forced her away to safety. The two departed from the fan dispute, but regardless, Chiya responded with hostility. The Mysterian struggled to get out of Earl's grasp, but soon managed to whip her arm out free. She did not speak to the Korean, rather she continued on her way. Earl groaned in frustration and followed.

“Come on, Chi'; there's no reason to be angry at me. We're-”

“Do you plan on stalking me all day?”

Earl rubbed the back of his neck with a quirked mouth, “Uh, well, no. But I much prefer you being happy…”

“I am happy!” she shouted.

Earl face palmed, “I would leave you alone, but I feel that if I do, you'll keep acting like this if I don't try and fix you.”

Chiya grinded her teeth, but did not stop moving. Earl ran beside her, but she did not look his direction. “Fix me? I'm not the one who has trust issues!”

“I don't have trust issues, it was a stupid initial reaction I made, nothing big. You're just overreacting.”

A sarcastic chuckle was received, “You clearly don't understand how women feel.”

“I've had plenty female friends and girlfriends, I'm pretty sure I do.”

Chiya clenched her fists, “Why are you still pestering me!?” she picked up her speed upon saying this.

“I just want to make you feel better. I _hate_ seeing you this upset.”

“You didn't seem very sympathetic for me on the way here. While all the other women in the universe are having babies and living fruitful lives, I'm getting captured by pirates and having my feelings beat by my friends!”

“Yeah, but…” Earl groaned and rubbed his forehead in pressure, “I mean… babies? Err… can't we just get a hamster or something?”

Chiya swished her hand at him and continued onward, “Just leave me alone, Earl. Go spend time with your many girlfriends since you're so good at getting them.”

A clear look of offense came upon Earl's face, but he refrained from responding to this comment. “Look, I just want this random tension over with. Just tell me what I can do to please you and I'll do it.”

At long last, Chiya stopped and sighed. She clicked her boots together and pulled a city map out of her shorts. She handed the map to Earl, leaving him to wonder what she was going to ask of him. Chiya opened the map and struck her finger down on an alley.

“There's something at this alley I need. Go get it.”

Earl scratched his head while looking at the alley, “Uh, okay? What am I looking for in the alley?”

Chiya had already walked away. Earl let her go, deciding to go to the alley in search of what Chiya needs. Chiya continued her walk down the streets with watery eyes and grinding teeth; she would return to the gambling parlor, assuming that Earl wouldn't check there twice for her.

 

 

 

Minutes later, Earl continued walking down the streets of Aeropolis in search of the alley she pointed at on the map, he had to make sure he didn't forget which alley she had shown him.

He was trying to maneuver around the many people on the streets while at the same time keeping a finger planted on the alley. _What the Hell could she want that's in an alley..?_ The city was so large, making foot travel much more of a task; Seppuku insisted that they never bring any automobiles along with them to planets.

By now, Earl was coming to terms with the idea that he made a mistake aboard Goroh's ship, but the fact that Chiya's fuming rage was deriving from this one initial reaction left him almost annoyed. Earl was close to the point where he would honor her wish and stay away, but was determined to complete his assignment in hopes that it would, at the very least, show that he was trying his best to appease her. A respectful testament of his friendship with her, no doubt.

Earl stopped in front of an alley and gulped. Aeropolis had one of the lowest crime rates in the galaxy, but he still had to be ready for anything to jump out at him. He began walking down the alley and began his scan of the area for anything that may be of interest to someone like Chiya. Within mere seconds he had already come to the end of the alley—but found nothing. He looked around the alley in puzzlement. _She certainly could have told me what I'm looking for in this alley…_

He continued to search around the alley for almost five minutes, but was finding nothing that could be of interest to the Mysterian, there was only dust and dirt. Earl began to contemplate about this strange mission before widening his eyes. He face palmed and groaned loudly, realizing that this had been a ploy to get him to leave her alone.

“Dammit, Chiya…”

 

 

A few hours passed and Chiya was once again sitting at the counter of the gambling parlor's cantina. She was sketching a cat in an attempt to come up with a unique emblem to put on her F-Zero machine. The problem Chiya now faced was that Earl would be the one who finishes her machine, and unless a solution to her anger was found, it would be a tension filled process.

She soon decided that it was time to head back to the abandoned store and isolate herself in her room again. She put the sketch of the cat in her pocket and left the parlor. The sky was now a dark blue color, a color picked out by Mother-Q to represent nighttime.

Chiya walked the streets of Aeropolis, trying to enjoy the beautiful artificial night Aeropolis delivered. The temperature was also dropped to a more realistic level to simulate what nighttime felt like on other planets. The planet had no curfew, so people were still moving around the city. It was much quieter at night, however. Chiya was still anxious to get back to Mute City for the sole reason that she could continue driving her F-Zero machine. The _Purring Kitten_ was all Chiya could think about when she thought of Earth; but right now, her mind was centered on Earl Bendek both for positive and negative reasons—but overwhelmingly negative.

 

 

 

Later on, Chiya was nearing their current place of residency; she was hoping to avoid speaking with Seppuku, as he would only further provoke her. Inside of the store Earl and Seppuku spoke in front of the counter, Seppuku was now more willing to speak than earlier in the day.

While pacing back and forth, Earl concluded a thought aloud, “She's just been so weird today…”

Seppuku nodded, “Of course she has, Chiya's weird,” said Seppuku.

Earl did not respond to him, but did find partial agreement with the insult. He was baffled as to how anyone could be so angry over such a simple problem.

“I tried comforting her, I saved her from a crowd, I took a field trip to an empty alley—why can't she just see that I have good intentions and liken up to me again?”

Seppuku shrugged, “I told you, don't pester her when she's having a mood swing. It's just that time of the-”

 “Stop bringing your spiritual thinking into this, there's nothing wrong with Chiya. She's a human like everyone else.”

“Wh- Wha- Idiot, I'm not saying that she's an alien or anything, I'm just saying that she's a female and-”

“Females and males both work the same way emotionally.”

“But…” The Man of Darkness shook his head and shrugged again, “Forget it, keep pestering her. It's amusing.”

Earl jolted up as the door to the building opened, Chiya rushed through the room without turning her head. Earl turned with a somewhat frustrated face, Seppuku raised an eyebrow with fair intrigue.

“Chiya!” Earl yelled. Chiya came to a stop but did not look over at him, she appeared somewhat surprised by his rare use of a raised voice, “What the Hell was the point of sending me to that alley!?”

Chiya looked more to her left, showing the back of her head to the two, “I was trying to get rid of you...”

“Dammit, Chiya; I've been trying to resolve this issue all day! Why the Hell can you not see that you're overreacting?”

This flared up Chiya's emotions, and so she turned to face the man. “I expected Seppuku to react like an idiot on that ship—but not you…”

“Screw you, Flower.”

Earl clenched his fists and became more fired up, “In all my life, I've had many people get pissed at me at some point; but I have never, in my life, seen anyone get angry over something as insignificant as this!”

Chiya narrowed her eyes in response, “I bet you wouldn't have even come to rescue me if you knew that I had a bounty. You'd have just left me there. I'm just dead weight in your eyes now…”

“Dammit, I'm sick of this! You're portraying me as some kind of lowlife self-centered bandit!” Seppuku looked at Earl in shock as he began to glow red, he never expected either of the two to enter such a loud state of rage, “I truly want to remain good friends with you, Chiya; but right now I'm finding that _really_ hard because you're being such an autistic bitc-”

Everyone in the room gasped, including Earl; who stopped himself with wide eyes, but what said was already received.

Seppuku stood up with shut teeth, “Asshole! That's a red zone insult!”

Instant regret shut Earl down as he faced Chiya with a shaking head, “Th- That was an accident, Chiya. That slipped out; just words without weight or truth!”

The apology was not enough to douse Chiya's crushed heart, as she continue glaring at him with a reddening face of fury and humiliation.

Through hyperventilation and sorrow, Chiya began to stamp her foot, “I- I- you bastard! I told you that in confidence!”

Without further thought, she pulled out her handgun and took a shot toward Earl. For a moment, all faces in the room contained shock. Earl gasped and cringed the first moment the shot was made; after the ringing of the shot faded, he opened his eyes. He had not been shot, but a hole now existed on the ground just beyond the tip of his foot. He looked up at the disgruntled Flower who now held the smoking handgun toward him; she was trembling where she stood. Earl was in a state of complete shock, amazed by what she had just done. Earl had provoked her with his irrational and senseless insult, but the line was drawn when she fired at him.

Both Chiya and Earl were alerted as the clicking of Seppuku's rifle came up. The Man of Darkness stood with a rifle drawn onto Chiya for safe measure. This was a huge surprise to both younger adults.

“Calm down, Flower…” Seppuku demanded as he calmly aimed his rifle at Chiya's head.

Chiya's eye began to twitch; she lowered her eyebrows and breathed in. She was almost distraught by what she had just done. Another inch and she could have wounded Earl. Despite what she had just done, she continued to display a look of discontent with the situation. She soon holstered her handgun with regret for what she had just done.

Seppuku of all people sought out damage control, “Alright, let's all just calm down, now. Bendek was an idiot for using such a childish insult; Flower almost blew your foot off with that high caliber military designed handgun. There are faults on both sides, let's move on.”

Even so, Earl looked up and returned a hostile look to Chiya. The two gazed at each other, both now having reason to be mad at the other.

Earl sighed and spoke, “Wow, I never would have guessed someone as smart as you would let such a foolish overreaction turn into a near murder…” Chiya did not respond to him, as she had been silenced by what almost happened. She still had a look of anger, nonetheless. Earl closed his eyes and nodded at her, “I guess you've made your point then.”

“You called me an autistic-”

“I'm sorry for that. But…” The Korean shook his head and sighed, “I just don't know what to make of this.”

Seppuku lowered his rifle and gritted his teeth, realizing that his organization was about to make a turn for the worst. Earl began walking away from the two and made his way toward the door, he showed no desire to further attempt to fix their friendship. He accepted his wrongdoing, but in his mind, could not level a verbal insult with actual lethal action. He well believed Chiya to now be in the wrong.

“I'll gladly work on your F-Zero machine for you and even heal you when needed. But…” The man swiped his hand through the air and growled, “I don't need this crap right now!” With this said, he took leave and slammed the door behind him.

Chiya stood and watched Earl depart, she watched as his silhouette moved down the dark streets of Aeropolis, alone. She still had her teeth barred, but it was easy for Seppuku to see that Chiya's eyes were beginning to water. Earl and Chiya's attitudes were no longer working in Seppuku's favor. While the two were indeed more aggressive, they were also divided. Chiya blinked her eyes many times in an attempt to get the water out of her eyes.

“Why are you doing this to yourself, child?” asked Seppuku.

Chiya turned around and swallowed, “I- I'm protecting myself! He'll betray me as soon as I get in real danger…” Seppuku continued to stare at Chiya, not amused by her answer. “That's the truth!”

Seppuku shook his head negatively, “Who are you trying to convince right now?” Chiya widened her eyes. “Me or you?”


	28. Lap 28

==Lap 29=

 

The remaining days had gone, thus bringing the three to the final race. By the end of the day, someone would be going home with one billion credits. The past days had been very difficult for Seppuku as his two associates were now split; not only were they arguing on a daily basis, but now both fought to gain Seppuku's support through means of influence. Seppuku found both Chiya and Earl's motives for being angry to be reasonable, but not worthy of creating hate; hence he didn't side with either of the two. Chiya and Earl did, however, come to an agreement with one another that would allow the two to serve Seppuku together—but not on good terms.

Seppuku, Chiya, and Earl walked together toward the racetrack, though they had plenty of time before the race would begin. Seppuku would have gladly taken the _Red Dove_ , but he already had it stored at the race track, so he would have to deal with the awkwardness of the tension surrounding him. Chiya and Earl walked alongside him from opposite shoulders, for they refused to walk near one another.

Earl looked up at Seppuku as they walked, “So, do you think you can pull this race off?”

Before Seppuku could answer, Chiya fired off a response, “Of course he'll win. Why wouldn't he?”

“I didn't ask you, Chiya.”

“But you're doubting your friends— _again_.”

The two were already glaring at one another, a common occurrence in these past days. Seppuku clenched his fists and groaned at the two in frustration, “I'm getting real sick of you two...”

Chiya returned a smile, “I'm sorry, I'm just trying to keep your spirits up!”

“By criticizing me?” added Earl.

“You don't question your friends on victory; you inspire them. Why don't you know this?”

The Korean widened his eyes and shrugged, “I wasn't questioning him, I was just asking him-”

“Wanker.”

“Hey..!” Earl snapped. “I'm not a wanker, if anything, _you're_ being the wanker!”

Seppuku face palmed and growled, “For God's sake, you two need to just bang and be friends again!”

A silence ensued before Chiya crossed her arms in defiance, “There will be no music headbanging until I get a full blown apology!”

Before Seppuku could speak, Earl lashed out at Chiya again, “At least I didn't take a shot at your foot! Jesus, that would have shattered my bones into small fragments if you had hit me!”

“I missed, get over yourself.”

“Both of you, shut the Hell up.”

Earl shook his head at the ground; he knew that he would need to win Seppuku's favor over Chiya's before he could get teamed up on. Whoever got Seppuku's support would be on the winning side. Seppuku's support leaned in Earl's favor for a brief time, but ever since Earl began retaliating rather than trying to calm her down, Seppuku had entered a policy of neutrality. The Man of Darkness was thankful that he didn't have to deal with the two while he raced. Never in his life would he have guessed that a happy and playful Chiya was the superior one.

“Bendek, you still have those communication devices in the Red Dove, right?” Earl widened his eyes in shock at the question, “I know that I condemned using them in the past, but this is for the grand prize. I think it would be helpful if I could speak to you throughout the race.”

Earl looked away and rubbed his head, “Uh, ye—eah, I actually put them in the Purring Kitten…”

Chiya blinked at him in surprise, but Seppuku growled, “Why would you do that? What does Flower need it for?”

“I originally thought I could talk to Chiya on the track, but apparently I won't be doing that…”

Seppuku shook his head negatively, “Idiot…”

Chiya took this opportunity to tug on Seppuku's arm and state, “When we get back to Earth, we can put it in the Red Dove, instead,” she proposed with an unrealistic smile.

This time Earl couldn't block a frown from appearing, this was another gift to her intended to make her happy and strengthen their friendship. After thinking for a few moments, he diverted the sorrow into anger and narrowed his eyes at her.

Seppuku swatted her arm away, “Damn, stop sucking up to me; it's not getting you anywhere.”

Both Chiya and Earl had been silenced as they continued to walk down the streets. Seppuku was becoming more impatient with the immaturity of the two ~~—~~ especially since both were in their twenties. The two continued to exchange brief glances, desiring to go at each other again. A soothing silence continued to surround them as they walked to the track ~~—~~ until Earl grabbed his sleeve.

“So, who gets to stay up in the F-Zero booth. Me or Chiya?”

“Obviously me! I'm learning how to become an F-Zero racer!”

“But I need to study what parts of the Red Dove he damages,” Earl argued back.

“No, you don't! You do an evaluation of the machine after every race!”

Seppuku grabbed both their heads to silence them, “You two will remain in that booth together. If either one of you leaves that booth, I'm kicking both your asses out of this organization for good!” he threatened.

Chiya gasped, “But Sepp-”

Seppuku poked Chiya's forehead with force, “I'll kick _you_ right back onto the gang infested streets, and I'll bring _you_ personally back to Korea for you know what…”

With both associates once again silences, Seppuku exhaled. He was beginning to realize just how useless these two were to him when they fought amongst each other. Both Chiya and Earl appeared frightened by his threats, Chiya was left pouting with a quivering lip.

“I can find two other employees without a problem, but it would be painful losing two great assets.”

Chiya and Earl both nodded. Neither of the two liked the idea of sticking with each other up in the booth like they always do, but they would have to deal with each other for now. Seppuku felt that it would be up to him to bring the two back together as friends. In all fairness, Seppuku was a horrible fit for such a task.

 

 

 

The three arrived at the racetrack and were now inside their booth. Seppuku remained still while looking at the two; he somehow managed to get them to stand together as he prepared to give them further instruction. Even though Earl was a major contributor to the fight, Chiya seemed to be the more aggressive person.

“Since you two insist on being children, I'll treat you like children; by laying down some rules,” Seppuku lectured.

Both moaned at the sound of this; neither believed that they were being childish. Next, Seppuku crossed his arms and explained, “As I said, if _one_ of you try and leave this booth, _both_ of you are getting the boot…”

Chiya widened her eyes and panicked, “Wha- What if I need to go to the restroom!?”

“Too bad. Secondly, if you two get into any physical fights, I'll go a step further and turn both of you into the proper authorities.” He pointed at Chiya, “Mysteria,” then Earl, “Manchuria.”

Both looked at him with great fear, understanding that he meant business. If either of them screwed up, they would both be done for, as Seppuku had information to blackmail both with. Seppuku studied the expressions of the two, their looks of intense fright said it all—they were to follow orders. Thus, he nodded and began to back away toward the booth's exit.

“Well, wish me luck, then…”

The two waited until he left the booth for good, assuming that he would somehow be watching them. Earl's immediate thought was an obvious one: The question of how Seppuku would know whether or not the two broke a rule. He rubbed his chin and contemplated on about this matter. He then looked at Chiya, who appeared more afraid than angry. It eluded Earl as to why this blackmailing wasn't offending Chiya to a critical extent. Either way, both had no choice but to respect Seppuku as he remained undecided on who to support.

After about a minute of thinking, Earl spoke, “I hope our issues won't distract him while he drives...”

“ _Your_ issues. I'm doing nothing wrong.”

“You tried to shoot me! I'm not the one overreacting, getting shot at is a perfectly legitimate reason to be angry!”.

Chiya half glared, “You called me an autistic-”

“No, no, no, I'll apologize for that; I _do_ apologize for that. But this isn't about that, this is still about that little incident on Goroh's ship.”

“It's both things! If you were my friend, you would have stood by me and at least hear me out.” The Mysterian poked Earl in the ribs, “After all the respect and sorrow I gave for you, you betrayed me!”

Earl stepped away from her with a growl, “Okay, okay, we need to cease fighting, just for now...” Chiya raised a fierce brow. “Despite the conflict you and I are in, we both want Seppuku to win this thing. Going at our throats won't help him win, quite the contrary. And besides, both our jobs are on the line. Let's stay reserved so we don't end up on the streets.”

Chiya moved her eyes around several directions before nodding, “I guess you have a point…”

Earl returned a nod and went toward the front of the booth to look out at the track. Chiya decided that the easiest way to distance herself from Earl would be to watch the race via television while he watched in person.

All the two did with each other was argue their point, but neither were getting anywhere with their arguments. Earl had a feeling that the tension would ease once they returned to Mute City, however, he had no plan of getting Chiya back on his side. Through this bad experience, Earl found himself wondering why he liked Chiya before, as he could only see an overly dramatic person who whined too much. The good memories he had of Chiya were clouded, this very well could work vice versa as well. Either way, the time for F-Zero was at hand—not friendship.

The track chosen for the final race; Multiplex, was the easiest track Aeropolis had. However, the track had a massive jump, several landmines, and one very sharp turn. The track would be similar to Sand Ocean in the sense that fighting would be inevitable after the large jump was made, this jump was three times as high as the one on Sand Ocean and would require racers to glide through the air onto the ground using their airbrakes—the machine gadget Chiya used to glide over Seppuku during their bet race.

Chiya sat down and observed the screen, a pre-race broadcast had just come on as usual featuring the two F-Zero commentators.

“The day is here; but of the five racers, which one will go home today a billionaire?” one asked.

“Everyone by now has cast aside the other twenty-five racers, all anyone cares about at the moment is which one of these specific five wins.”

The screen flashed through images of the five probable candidates for victory: Captain Falcon, Blood Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Lieutenant Seppuku, and Jody Summer. The commentators were joined in with another member of the F-Zero committee.

“The votes are in, and the mass of voters has decided that… Captain Falcon is going to win this one with an overall vote of fifty-seven percent.”

“It's not very surprising to me that they voted Captain Falcon. The man's been racing since the early days of F-Zero, and some have even spread rumors that his father was a racer back when cars used rubber tires.”

“Well, the obvious mystery will remain—who is Captain Falcon? If you know his identity, you also know who Blood Falcon is; killing two falcons with one shot.”

The F-Zero committee member shrugged, “We may never know who he is.” This conversation was ended on the spot. “But what of the other racers, you have Goroh, Jody, Seppuku...”

“A Seppuku victory would shoot his ratings up. The closest he ever came to winning the Grand Prix was third place, but this year he seems to be making more of an effort to win.”

“You also have Blood Falcon who's just as fierce as Captain Falcon, considering he's an identical clone.”

The F-Zero committee member turned away from the camera for a moment to speak with someone, he then turned back around with a grin, “We have been given the all clear to start the opening ceremony.”

The broadcast switched over to a view of the Multiplex race track, unlike other races, this one had many more fans watching, with many still outside trying to get in. Chiya knew that she was lucky to be allowed into such a private area, in the normal fan area she would be forced to sit with many strangers, and Chiya was claustrophobic when it came to strangers.

As she waited, a glance was given to Earl who was leaning against the booth's opening. She bit on her finger in frustration and let out a cute growl. She was still enraged at Earl, yet, bothered that he wasn't trying to rebuild their friendship. _Blimey, just apologize for everything and I might consider standing next to you…_ This thought caused her to rub her boots together in frustration.

The track speakers soon switched on for the main event, “Ladies and gentlemen, the F-Zero committee would like to thank you for coming to the final race of this year's Grand Prix.” At that moment, all of Aeropolis joined in celebration with cheers. “At this time, we will kick off the event with the traditional opening ceremony.”

A musical band began to play music as several ships flew over the track spraying colored mist. Earl looked across the track and found Michael Chain's booth; some of his lackeys were present in the booth, despite that Chain had no chance of winning the Grand Prix. The Korean smirked at the group of men; the gang had no idea that they were preparing to stop the Bloody Chain once and for all. The only concern Earl had was how cooperative Chiya would be with him if they were to attack the Bloody Chain head on. If they struggled in communicating with each other, fighting alongside each other against an entire base of gang members could be very problematic.

Time went by and the ceremony was coming to an end, the race was getting closer every minute that went by. Chiya was now laying on her side with her boots off. The past nights had exhausted her; constant pain and sorrow mixed with anger and hate led to restless nights. Despite how aggressive she appeared as of this moment, there was a weak spot in her that _did_ desire to fall and submit to Earl; but she was far from executing this action.

“And now, the contestants!” Music played as the list of racers were brought up on all monitors, “An easy candidate for victory, the very erratic, Blood Falcon!”

The _Blood Hawk_ stopped before the starting line. Blood Falcon would resume his usual fight with Captain Falcon during this race, however, he was also to prioritize on the race—given how close he stood from victory.

“Another challenger for the gold, Lieutenant Seppuku!”

Both Chiya and Earl were shocked to hear so many fans cheering his name, Seppuku was climbing up the ranks at long last. Winning the Grand Prix would secure a large fan base.

The first action Seppuku took after reaching the line was to leap out of the _Red Dove_ and approach Blood Falcon; who had the exact same idea. Blood Falcon had his signature grin as the two walked toward one another. Both stopped and entered a standoff.

“What are you up to, Blood Falcon?”

Blood Falcon responded by holding up a disc, he did so with a proud and confident smirk.

“A virus—in fact, the most powerful computer virus ever developed.”

Seppuku raised a brow at the disc, “Computer virus?”

“This disc contains a super virus. Once I put this into Mother-Q, the entire planet will become corrupted with Dark Million queries; in which Mother-Q will abide to her new master—Black Shadow!”

Seppuku chuckled, “You cunning bastard, I love you…”

“Thank you,“ Blood Falcon put the disc aside. “The streets will become dark, the planetary defense system will fire on anyone who does not bear the blood of Dark Million. Lastly, the incredible amount of industry here will go towards our master plan!”

“Nice, but there's a flaw I see in your plan…”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, what happens when I come and stop you? Or do you have plans for me?”

The clone nodded, “You and Captain Falcon get to witness the beginning of the end. I'll kill Falcon and prove my superiority over you. Then I'll deal with you.”

Seppuku shook his head in confusion and laughed. Samurai Goroh and Captain Falcon soon approached the two, thus creating a diamond of racers. Between these four racers, there were _no_ positive feelings toward anyone. Seppuku hated everyone in this group, as did Captain Falcon, Goroh, and Blood Falcon.

Goroh tossed his arms up into the air and shouted, “I'm taking this victory home with me, so stay out of my way!”

Seppuku grinned at him, “Please, you don't have the machine to pull it off.”

 

 

No one other than Seppuku heard what Blood Falcon was saying, leaving Chiya and Earl both to ponder about the disc the evil clone had displayed. It was somewhat clear to both that this was relevant to the plan Blood Falcon mentioned. While Earl was left putting the pieces together, Chiya came up with the immediate idea that the disc pertained to Mother-Q in some way, the general belief being that he planned on destroying Aeropolis with it.

Chiya glanced at Earl yet again with a mixed feeling. She felt that it would be smart to bring this matter up with him, but by doing so she would reveal weakness. No matter how much more serious Blood Falcon's intentions were, the Mysterian would not budge an inch to Earl; she was determined to win the feud with him. Thus she proceeded to sigh and melt back onto the couch.

Later on, each racer had been presented at the starting line; the race was about to begin. Set up near the starting line were three metal pedestals representing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Right after the race, the final score would be determined and the top three racers would be expected to make an appearance here to claim their trophies.

“Ladies and gentlemen! This, is the final race… Racers, good luck!”

Seppuku was well determined and prepared to win the race and bring home a billion credits. With this much money, he would be able to support his organization for years, get both him and Chiya better machine parts, and many other luxuries. The Man of Darkness looked up at his booth but could see only Earl leaning over the edge.

_Damn…_

“Racers!”

Seppuku shifted his head forward and nodded, he would need to deal with the two later, for he had to focus on the race.

“The race will begin in…”

Captain Falcon glanced at Blood Falcon, it was critical that he did not win the billion credits, for he would give it all to Black Shadow.

“Three…” Jody puckered her lips while looking at both Blood Falcon and Lieutenant Seppuku. “Two…” Goroh grinned at Captain Falcon before cracking his knuckles. “One…” Blood Falcon looked at Captain Falcon and chuckled, ready to finally beat him in the Grand Prix. Seppuku nodded to himself and grasped the wheel, ready for the biggest three laps of his life.

“Go!”

The race started and everyone drove ahead at full speed, the _Blood Hawk_ and _Blue Falcon_ were the first to initiate combat. Goroh was the one who managed to slip into 1 st place with Seppuku trailing alongside Jody. Seppuku and Jody were not in an alliance, but they had a common goal which thus made them somewhat of allies on the track. The _Blood Hawk_ passed the _Blue Falcon_ to almost catch up with the lead, but the _Red Gazelle_ blocked the evil clone and drove into 3 rd.

The _Red Dove_ managed to get on the _Fire Stingray_ 's side and push Goroh back to 3rd place, Jody now assumed the lead. Seppuku had no intentions of letting Jody win the race, however, and so he sought to find a way around the _White Cat_. The _Blood Hawk_ was busy trying to destroy the _Red Gazelle_ , but was again met with flak from the _Blue Falcon_. Goroh was another racer seeking combat, and he had Seppuku in particular on his list of enemies—despite the recent truce the two had made.

The track's very sharp turn was coming up, this was both a dangerous part of the track and where racers would likely pass each other. Seppuku began to turn the steering wheel early to make a very risky maneuver—but a successful one. His slick turn placed him in 1st place; meanwhile, Goroh managed to bump Jody out of the way and continue his pursuit of the _Red Dove_.

Chiya was biting her fingers with a very frantic face. She had thought the other races were very engaging and hyped, but this one was dependent on what place Seppuku took in the end. It was possible that he could win if he took 2nd place, but Blood Falcon, Captain Falcon, _and_ Jody would need to be far behind the other racers.

The racers now approached the massive jump, where Seppuku and Goroh found themselves tied together, but not prepared to fight each other until the jump was completed. Jody was still behind Goroh trying to get him off of Seppuku. Within a few more moments the racers drove off the ramp, taking them into the sky; they were about 200 feet away from the track below. Seppuku initiated the airbrakes in midair, which brought him down to the track in a gentle manner. He continued to drive while also searching his surroundings looking for Goroh, but he did not see the _Fire Stingray_ anywhere in the sky. The _Fire Stingray_ soon fell beside the _Red Dove_ to Seppuku's surprise. The Man of Darkness gasped, but attacked the _Fire Stingray_ nonetheless, thus propelling the machine against the safety railing. Many racers passed Goroh as a result.

“Yes!” Chiya cheered.

An F-Zero commentator struck his fist down and shouted, “A devastating blow to Samurai Goroh! That is going to take some repairs for sure!” The commentator paused and grunted as the _Fire Stingray_ still managed to make its way up the track. “Hold on, Goroh is not out; he is not out!”

Seppuku smirked at his own victory, but found the prideful moment cut short as the _Blood Hawk_ somehow passed both Seppuku and Jody. Captain Falcon pursued him, also managing to pass the two. A chuckle was made in response toward the two racers. _Game on…_

The _Red Dove_ 's maximum speed was increased, thus decreasing its maneuverability around corners but made him a fast opponent. The _Red Dove_ distanced itself from Jody within seconds, but she mimicked what he did by raising the maximum speed. The racers drove down a very wide and simple long stretch of track; this was a good area to fight another racer. After the long stretch, they would be entering the minefield. This minefield was much larger than the one on Sand Ocean, someone could die with little effort here. Since Seppuku always studied the tracks of upcoming races, he had a general idea of where the landmines would be.

The _Blue Falcon_ and _Blood Hawk_ stopped fighting so that they could maneuver the landmines. Seppuku and Jody followed the two while also dodging mines. Not long after the landmine area, the racers passed the checkpoint and entered the second lap, where boost power was now authorized. Seppuku seized this opportunity to boost towards the _Blood Hawk_ and side attack the machine. Blood Falcon saw through this attack and hit the brakes just before Seppuku could attack. Captain Falcon and Seppuku now rode alongside each other, Jody boosted her way back up to Seppuku. The _Blue Falcon_ boosted away from the _Red Dove_ to try and gain a good lead on everyone. Seppuku was distracted on Captain Falcon and soon found himself getting hit by the _Blood Hawk_ ; the rear of the _Red Dove_ took a critical hit that sent sparks into the air.

The hit made Earl cringe, “That'll take a while to buff out…”

Chiya chuckled at his misfortune from the couch, “It's your job.”

Earl chose not to respond, instead focusing on the race.

Seppuku boosted away from the _Blood Hawk_ while keeping watch on his energy, the next restoration pad could be found after the large jump. Jody and Seppuku were gaining on Captain Falcon; but Blood Falcon gained on Seppuku with a clear intention to attack. Before anyone could engage in combat, the _Blood Hawk_ and _White Cat_ were knocked to Seppuku's side by another racer.

The Man of Darkness gritted his teeth with a turned head, “What the-” The _Wild Boar_ now stalked the leaders from behind, “Chain!”

Michael Chain had a zero percent chance of winning the Grand Prix, as he had been retired from just about every race, but he remained determined to ruin Seppuku's chance at winning. Seppuku grinned, realizing that he had a golden opportunity to kill Chain. The plan was to land a strong blow to Chain before the jump; if he succeeded, Chain would fly off course and fall to Aeropolis' surface—certain death. Jody and Blood Falcon were facing off with each other; both had taken heavy damage from the _Wild Boar_. Seppuku and Chain made the sharp turn and were now heading for the jump. Chain would never expect Seppuku to make such a risky—and irrational—move before such a dangerous jump, thus making the likelihood of killing him great. While Chain prepared for the jump, Seppuku proceeded to slide toward his target for the surprise attack.

“So long, Michael Chain!” Seppuku taunted.

The plan was flawless, but alas, had been severed very abruptly; for the _Fire Stingray_ boosted forward and knocked the _Wild Boar_ aside. Goroh accidentally foiled Seppuku's perfect plan, thus leaving the three to continue racing without confrontation. Seppuku would still have one lap to attempt such a dangerous attack, but he also had to ensure victory in the race. The _Red Dove_ landed alongside the _White Cat_ and drove over the restoration pads to collect whatever energy he could. The _Wild Boar_ continued chasing him along with the _Fire Stingray_. It was happening again, the two were going to try and work on getting Seppuku out of the race.

“Shoot…” Seppuku muttered at the sight of the two racers.

Seppuku boosted away from the two, but was being followed from a very close distance; to his luck, Jody of all people sought to aid him. Blood Falcon was taking his time in catching up, he was seeking an opportune moment to slip by each racer. Captain Falcon was still in the lead and was not concerning himself with the other racers. Again, Seppuku boosted which brought him to the large stretch. He was stuck; if he tried to attack one of the racers, the other would take the opportunity to take out Seppuku while distracted.

The _Red Dove_ made a sharp turn around the corner and almost hit a landmine. A near tragedy became a miracle, however, as the _Wild Boar_ ran straight into the same landmine, thus retiring from the race. Many fans and racers alike expressed shock as a result; but to Seppuku's misfortune, Chain managed to escape from the machine wreckage with little harm.

“Damn, he survived. That's a shame.” Seppuku smirked and rubbed his chin, “…unless I were to accidentally run him over…” Seppuku joked aloud.

Seppuku was almost tied with Captain Falcon for 1st, but Samurai Goroh stuck with him by using expert maneuvers around the mines. The checkpoint was up ahead and would introduce the racers to the final lap; this fact left Seppuku distracted for a moment until noticing that the _Fire Stingray_ was about to side attack him from the left. Seppuku jolted up and prepared for an emergency spin attack to block Goroh with, but instead, the _Fire Stingray_ was struck by the _Blue Falcon_. The _Fire Stingray_ hopped up in sparks and flames; Goroh had been retired as well. This left only four of the predicted winners still on the track.

Chiya leapt up in excitement and cheered, “Thank you, Captain Falcon!” She glanced at Earl for a moment and received a somewhat startled expression from him. This caused her to sit back down in awkward silence.

Captain Falcon drove beside Seppuku as they were about to enter the final lap, he saluted Seppuku while nodding his head. Seppuku was looking at the F-Zero legend with great discontent, but this time something was wrong. It was at that moment Seppuku's visor began to glow a dim blue color, the sight of static could be seen within the same glass; but only Captain Falcon noticed the strange visor change. Seppuku found himself grinding his teeth at him; his hands were clenched around the steering wheel.

Something was happening that was out of Seppuku's control—something cryptic and supernatural. With an almost robotic expression, Seppuku began to speak an unknown language within his own mind.

Captain Falcon, sensing something was wrong, prepared to pull away from the lieutenant. But it was before he could do so that Seppuku did what no villain has been able to do for years; he pulled off a perfect blow to the _Blue Falcon_ 's side—no mercy intended. The side wing of the _Blue Falcon_ was snapped off the F-Zero machine and sent flying toward the crowd. Many fans ducked in cover as the large blue plate spun toward them, but it ended up hitting the private booth of Baba. Captain Falcon was sent flying into the air sparking. The wing of the _Blue Falcon_ bounced off of Baba's private booth and ended up hitting the back of the _Red Dove_ , then hit the ground. Seppuku concluded the action by making a devilish laugh at the sight of a defeated Captain Falcon.

“Not so high and mighty now, huh, Pigeon?”

Chiya and Earl were both placed in a state of shock, the wrecked _Blue Falcon_ stopped below their booth. Earl was left with a dropped jaw at the provocative act Seppuku had committed—it was unprovoked and lacking of class. But worst of all, Seppuku took out the universe's greatest hero.

The Korean grabbed his forehead and began to tremble, “No, no, no..!”

At long last Chiya ran up to Earl, despite their feud, and asked, “What did he just do!?”

Earl watched as Captain Falcon escaped from his damaged machine, he walked across the track while holding his shoulder in discomfort. Seppuku's immense hit had caused an injury as well. Earl was trembling in absolute fear, he had put aside his tension with Chiya for a moment. Booing and screaming could be heard all across the track from fans in disgust at Seppuku's actions. He had taken out Captain Falcon by surprise; even the commentators were left speechless.

“I'll tell you what Seppuku just did…” Seppuku's visor returned to its normal shade of black, and so he drove with both a shocked and fearful expression. Whatever had just happened, the man was back to normal; but the deed was done. “He just pissed off seventy percent of the F-Zero fan base…”

Chiya began to tremble as well. Everyone was well aware of Seppuku's disgust for Captain Falcon, but what he just did was an act of hatred—not disgust. Given that millions in the universe were Captain Falcon fans, Seppuku would now be in danger as fans could become erratic and try killing Seppuku. Worse for them, the fans may go after his _associates_.

“May God have mercy on us…” Earl muttered with wide eyes.


	29. Lap 29

==Lap 30=

 

Chiya and Earl were both distraught at what had just happened in the world of F-Zero. Seppuku had taken out Captain Falcon right before the final lap with a strong side attack. Most F-Zero fans viewed Captain Falcon as the image of F-Zero, removing him from the Grand Prix would only install the realization that Captain Falcon _can_ be defeated. The people were not reacting well to the _Blue Falcon_ retiring from the race; he had lost the Grand Prix no matter what. Chiya and Earl were still at each other's throats, but the event that had just occurred left both in utter shock. Earl was still shaking his head in disbelief, the race was not yet over and Seppuku could still win the Grand Prix—but the repercussions of his actions would be immense regardless of how he does.

Seppuku was driving down the track in 1st place, Jody and Blood Falcon followed him from a close distance. Inside the _Red Dove_ there was shock and disbelief, looking to the sidelines and could see people throwing things onto the track in rage. The man shook his head in confusion, not understanding what had happened. The anger fired at Captain Falcon seemed to have been out of his control. He had always wanted to take Captain Falcon out, but he never envisioned himself actually doing it.

“What happened?” he asked himself.

Jody was gazing at the _Red Dove_ with two narrowed eyes; Seppuku was now an enemy on the track in her eyes. Seppuku committed no crime, but demonstrated a very provocative action toward the Federation. Captain Falcon was a valuable asset to the law, and she refused to see Seppuku both humiliate Falcon and take home a billion credits.

Blood Falcon still chuckled in approval at Seppuku's action, “He's making this way too easy for me!” he gloated.

Seppuku breathed in and exhaled, he couldn't let this inconvenience get in the way of winning the Grand Prix. Winning would be much easier with only two other racers that could snatch victory. As much as he didn't want to, he would need to explain to the public that his attack on Captain Falcon was not intentional in order to protect Chiya, Earl, and himself from disgruntled fans. Seppuku found the easy answer to this predicament; if he could win the Grand Prix he would be interviewed live on F-Zero TV—the perfect moment to try and explain his action. The only issue was that he himself couldn't figure out the motives behind his action.

The man's concentration was disrupted as an irate Jody Summer came ramming in from behind. The two blades of the _White Cat_ were sharp enough to slash tears into the _Red Dove_ 's sides, so he had to remain vigilant. Seppuku was shocked to find that she had turned on him, but soon realized that she had good reason to be mad. To make matters worse, the _Blood Hawk_ was nearing him.

_This is going to get tricky…_

The issue came to be that there was but one lap left; the final lap of the annual Grand Prix. There was no way he could strike the _White Cat_ , taking out two well respected racers would establish him as some kind of super villain in the eyes of the public. Even if Jody were against him, Seppuku had to accept that he considers _her_ an ally, to a very small extent.

The _Red Dove_ boosted away from the group and prepared for the upcoming sharp turn. If Jody hadn't turned hostile toward Seppuku, he would have been able to team up with her and stop Blood Falcon while he stole the win. Jody seemed just as determined to take Seppuku out as Blood Falcon; it was becoming clear to him that the _White Cat_ would hit him a few times before the end of the race. Nevertheless, that's why he had Earl as an employee—anything Jody did to him was Earl's job at the end of the day, for he was the machine's mechanic.

Up in the booth, Chiya sighed while still shaking her head and explained in a sad tone, “He must have knocked Captain Falcon out because he was mad at our fight that you provoked…”

Earl returned a sarcastic chuckle, “Yeah, alright, Chiya…”

“He was probably still mad, which turned his anger into hatred for Captain Falcon.”

“I agree with you, but this isn't _my_ fault.”

The two faced each other with angry expressions. Chiya continued the argument, “You never even apologized to me! That's the first mistake you made, buster!”

“Apologize for an initial reaction!? You would have done the same to me if you were in my shoes. A bounty isn't exactly common news; and besides, maybe I responded that way because, you know... I was frightened for _you_?”

“Don't pussyfoot around with me, here. You _jumped_ away from me.”

As the two continued to argue, a hovering robot with a camera flew up to the window of the booth and gazed at Chiya and Earl as they fought. Neither of the two had noticed, but the kiss cam was now centered on them. On the mega screen, Chiya and Earl were displayed with an open heart surrounding the two.

Chiya made a cute growl, “Because I know you weren't being so nice to me out of friendship! If anything, I should file sexual harassment on you...” she said in response to a point.

“S- Sexual harassment!? Are you out of your mind!? There's nothing sexual-” Earl then noticed the robot looking at them, Chiya looked at the robot as well in confusion. “Do you mind..?”

Chiya glanced up at the screen and spotted the two on the kiss cam. She gasped in shock and dropped to the floor in embarrassment. Earl looked up at the screen, though it quickly switched back to the race after she dropped to the floor. Chiya's face was now glowing red—either in anger or embarrassment. Earl, however, grinned and shook his head at her.

 

 

 

The machines made the sharp turn, where Jody tried to side attack the _Red Dove_ ; but she missed several times. The senseless attempts at taking Seppuku out demonstrated how very fired up the chief commander was. Seppuku was left flabbergasted by Jody's aggressiveness toward him, it was as if the _Blood Hawk_ didn't exist in her mind, and Blood Falcon was _much_ more of a villain than Seppuku. The _Blood Hawk_ boosted past the two and took the lead; Seppuku was becoming angrier by the second. If Jody continued to slow him down, Blood Falcon would win the prize money, which would go down as the most devastating conclusion to a Grand Prix in history.

A simple observation of his energy meter revealed that it was in the orange; about 1.5/4th of a full tank of energy. Boosting was very risky in this situation, but a necessary risk at this stage of the game. He boosted away from the _White Cat_ and put himself up against the _Blood Hawk_ instead. Seppuku's morale was hit, he had to wonder why he couldn't take out Blood Falcon rather than Captain Falcon; he would have been viewed as an F-Zero Legend even if he lost the race. For whatever the reason may be, he had been driven to take out Captain Falcon.

Blood Falcon chuckled as he looked over at Seppuku from inside his machine, the two exchanged glares for a moment. Seppuku was then surprised to find the cockpit window of the _Blood Hawk_ begin to open. They were going down the long stretch towards the massive jump; Seppuku opened his cockpit window as well while still looking at Blood Falcon. Driving this fast with opened cockpits was deemed an obvious act of idiocy; but they were doing it, nonetheless.

“Seppuku, thanks for taking care of that pest for me; knowing that he crashed and burned will make winning this race much more enjoyable!”

Seppuku shook in disgust, “Blood Falcon... winning is something you'll never experience!”

Blood Falcon smirked and closed his window again. Seppuku did the same; he was now more inspired to win the race knowing that he could still somewhat redeem himself by stopping Blood Falcon. The three made the large jump for the final time; it was while gliding that Seppuku found another F-Zero racer had taken the lead. The _Green Panther_ , Antonio Guster was now in the lead. Goroh was already out of the race, so this could only mean that Guster had some other plan up his sleeve. Seppuku raised a brow at Guster as he began to slow down in front of the _Red Dove_ in an attempt to stop Seppuku. Guster was also against Seppuku, but now held a grudge against him for reasons other than Captain Falcon.

“Bad timing!” Seppuku yelled while trying to work around the _Green Panther_.

The race was nearing completion, but they still had the large wide stretch to get across. Someone was bound to receive critical damage by the end of the race, this much was clear to all of the racers. Blood Falcon boosted away into 1st, Jody boosted away as well to try and catch up with Blood Falcon. Seppuku rammed the _Green Panther_ aside and pursued the two up the track. The _Red Dove_ drove closer to the _Blood Hawk_ rather than the _White Cat_. Seppuku felt that he would fare better against Blood Falcon than Jody could. The long stretch was coming up, meaning the battle was about to begin. To everyone's surprise, Blood Falcon boosted ahead to focus on the race instead. Seppuku did the same and was chasing him down without concern for the _Red Dove_ 's energy level. Seppuku and Blood Falcon were both expressing nervousness as the race came closer to finishing.

“He can't win, I won't let him win!” Seppuku told himself.

Seppuku boosted again, which put him in the danger zone of his energy level. If he continued to push his machine like this it would shut down on the track. The _Red Dove_ drove up beside the _Blood Hawk_ and slammed into it. The two now clashed machines in a bid to push each other to the side of the track. The _Blood Hawk_ had a better body, thus giving it an advantage over the _Red Dove_. Jody, meanwhile, followed both racers from a safe distance; she was going to weather out the storm before making her presence. Both Blood Falcon and Seppuku were low on energy—the simplest blow to either machine would result in a shutdown.

The two red birds separated from each other as they entered the minefield, but Seppuku accepted that he would need to stop Blood Falcon no matter the cost and thus rammed into him again. Blood Falcon grunted in shock at the man's decision to fight him right in the middle of a minefield. Jody widened her eyes at the two; at this point she decided to keep her mind on the race, rather than taking the two out. The finish line was visible far up ahead; they would turn one more time and boost to the finish.

Chiya was grinding her teeth along with Earl as they watched the two rival each other down the track, they had mere seconds left before the race would end. Seppuku and Blood Falcon drifted away from each other in preparation to go all out on each other. Whoever took out the other would win the race. The _Red Dove_ 's energy tank was surviving off of the smallest amount of energy; enough to keep the machine moving but nothing much more. He had to perfect his attack on Blood Falcon or face a retirement.

In one final bid for ultimate victory, Seppuku shouted a war cry of sort while sliding towards the _Blood Hawk_ , Blood Falcon did the same while moving towards the _Red Dove_. The entire crowd was about to jump at the sight of this thrilling conclusion. The _Red Dove_ and _Blood Hawk_ smashed into each other, and a surprising turn of events had occurred as _both_ machines had taken strong enough hits to shut down.

Seppuku could no longer control his machine; his screen said ' _Energy Depleted'_ and the cockpit flashed red every second. The _Red Dove_ stopped hovering, but his machine still moved up the track at an immense speed. Even with his machine powered off he moved up the track with what speed he had picked up. To his luck, the _Blood Hawk_ had also run out of energy. Both machines hit the ground and were scraping against the metal track towards the finish line. The crowd began screaming and shouting as the two disabled machines slid closer and closer with millions of sparks amidst the air. Seppuku gritted his teeth while trying with all his might to keep control of the machine—which was now acting like a sled, all he had to do was manage to slide into the finish line before Blood Falcon and it would be over. Luck was not on his side, however, as the _White Cat_ boosted past both racers and into the finish line—a victorious Jody Summer.

Seppuku's jaw dropped in shock, then even more so as the bottom of the _Red Dove_ ignited; he almost scraped off the first bottom layer of the machine's body.

Earl groaned while shaking his head at the _Red Dove_ , Chiya spared him a hostile remark this time; as she was praying that his disabled machine would slide past the finish line before Blood Falcon.

Seppuku was overjoyed at the sight of something; the _Blood Hawk_ began to slow down, as he lacked the machine capable of sliding such a distance. Seppuku passed the finish line followed by Blood Falcon, his machine came to a full stop a short distance past the line. All of the other racers passed him as he completed the final race in 2 nd place. The _Red Dove_ was somewhat charred and still on fire; it was here that Seppuku lifted his head up and looked at the monitor, hoping that there was a chance he still won the Grand Prix. He was disappointed at the results that showed up on screen. Jody topped him by 12 points; worse than that, Blood Falcon won an overall of 2 nd place, despite not beating Seppuku in this race. Seppuku took the overall of 3rd, winning a bronze trophy in the Grand Prix for the second time. Whether he liked it or not, Jody Summer was the F-Zero champion of this year.

Seppuku took hesitation in looking up at his booth; he could see a disappointed Chiya leaning over the booth pounding her hand down. He had come so close to bringing fortune to not only he, but his companions as well. Alas, the young Chiya would need to go another year living the very low class life.

“Damn, I hate F-Zero...”

 

 

 

Five minutes later; Jody, Blood Falcon, and Seppuku walked alongside each other in silence. They walked up a fleet of stairs leading to the victory pedestals. Seppuku had a look of despair and possessed several reasons to be depressed by the outcome; he wanted to win the Grand Prix so he could spend the money on his team, but he failed to do so in addition to letting his friendly rival win the Grand Prix.

Blood Falcon revealed a soft chuckle to mock his opponent; Seppuku did as Blood Falcon desired by glancing over at him; the trap was a simple gloating grin. Jody stepped up to the 1st place pedestal and grabbed the large gold trophy standing there, Blood Falcon stepped onto the 2nd place pedestal.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your champion—Jody Summer of the White Cat!”

Jody held the gold trophy up with pride as a tsunami of cheers hit her; Blood Falcon held his silver trophy with one hand and grinned at the crowd. He thoroughly enjoyed that Captain Falcon wasn't present on the pedestals for once. Fireworks blew up in the air as the annual Grand Prix had come to an end; Jody Summer was the one who would return to Mute City with the prize money.

As the celebration ceremony ensued, Seppuku gave Blood Falcon a very hostile stare; he may have lost to the clone by a single rank, but every intention of ridding the universe of the man was in place. Either way, Seppuku was not going to let Blood Falcon hold this minor victory over his head for long.

 

 

 

“You started _all_ of this!” Chiya shouted. “I don't start these arguments, you always provoke me! See what I'm doing right now? Self-defense.”

“That's not true, you always attack every little thing I say now; even if it's something you agree with.”

“Yeah, but...” Chiya whipped her hand aside and responded, “Irrelevant, the main issue-”

The two were broken up as Seppuku kicked the door open the booth's door; it was in that same second that he threw the bronze trophy across the room. Chiya and Earl both looked at him in fear, the obvious question being posed of why he had taken out Captain Falcon. Seppuku had his fedora tilted down to hide his visor. He said nothing, and walked past the two to the front of the booth.

Seppuku looked down at the _Red Dove_ , _Blood Hawk_ , and _Blue Falcon;_ all smoking at the finish line. In the end, five racers had been taken out, but Seppuku and Blood Falcon had been lucky enough to slide past the finish line.

The room was silent as the Man of Darkness stood with a bad attitude, both Chiya and Earl were too afraid to ask him about his encounter with Captain Falcon. Chiya rubbed her foot in circles and cleared her throat.

“So, you must be happy-”

“I didn't want to take out Captain Falcon; it was out of my control!” Chiya lowered her eyebrows, caught off guard by his yelling. “Something overcame me during that race—something evil…”

Earl shook his head, “I'm pretty sure you were just mad at the time, it's alright…”

“No you idiot, something happened to me.” He turned away from the two again and sighed, “There was a moment in that race where all feelings were made void. It was as if I had only one direction in life; one objective to complete. I did what my mind told me to do, because at the end of the day, that's what everyone does—the brain gives the order, and that's what happened today. I had no control over my brain's desire.”

“You realize that most F-Zero fans will be at your neck, right?” asked Earl.

Seppuku nodded, “There isn't much I can do about that…”

Chiya, distant from this conversation, picked up his bronze trophy and handed it back to him, “I thought we could go to a diner and celebrate your victory!” Seppuku looked at her with an irritated face, Chiya was easily intimidated by Seppuku and stepped away from him, “I- I'm buying, of course…”

“Celebrate my ' _victory'.._?”

“Well, you did place third out of thirty racers.”

Seppuku sighed while staring at her, “I set a bad example for you, Flower; I failed again; there is no gratification to be found in what you consider a 'victory'.”

“That's not true, you're an amazing racer who managed to win bronze even with such a heavy plate.” She pointed her finger up and smiled, “If you hadn't bravely gotten out of your machine to save Jody on Casino Palace and throw the race, you probably would have won the Grand Prix.”

“Ugh, don't remind me...” Chiya returned a bland looking face. The man tugged his hands away into his pockets and shrugged, “A diner, very well. Lead the way.”

 

 

 

 

Earl and Seppuku later sat at a table within a diner; several people passed the racer with disgust for his aggressive action in the race. He gained the respect of Captain Falcon haters, but the Falcon fans greatly outweighed them. Seppuku had his bronze trophy sitting on the table but thought very little of it; he already had a bronze trophy in the lobby of the base—to him this was nothing new. Earl was looking at the sparkling bronze trophy with envy, but he was happy for Seppuku as in a way it was a team effort that won him the trophy. Chiya soon returned to the table with two glasses of ice cream.

“There you go!”

Seppuku looked at his glass with lacking interest, “What is this?”

“Ice cream!”

Seppuku looked down at the glass and poked his finger into the soft desert, “Why?”

“Because ice cream solves everything!”

Earl looked around the table with a puzzled face, “What about me?”

“You have money, buy your own ice cream,” she answered.

In response, Seppuku pinched Chiya by the ear and tugged. “After such an unfortunate race, the last thing I need is two sad asses with trust problems…”

Chiya and Earl both glared at each other, the Mysterian stood up and pointed toward Earl, “He's the one with a trust problem! Not me! I- I'm a good person!”

“Will you shut up already?” Chiya frowned at the man, but was offered a quick conversational piece. “You must have been excited to see Samurai Goroh taken out by Falcon.”

The intention was to ease tension by discussing a common desire Chiya and Earl had—to see Goroh fail, but alas, Chiya glanced at Earl and answered, “I didn't care…”

Earl narrowed his eyes at her, “Yeah right! You were cheering when that happened!”

“No! I was cheering because Seppuku was about to take the lead!”

The Korean struck his fists down, shaking the table, “That's a lie if I ever heard one!”

Chiya grinded her teeth, “That's it!” The woman sent her glare towards Seppuku, “Seppuku, you _have_ to pick a side. Who is it gonna be?”

A moment of hesitation ensued, but Seppuku only responded by walking away from the two, he hadn't even touched his ice cream. Chiya and Earl exchanged dull glances, then got up to follow him, Seppuku was irate about the situation. He growled at the sound of the two following. Neither were grasping the big picture that Seppuku played for a neutral party. They would continue to annoy him with the nonstop fighting; his organization was at a record low for stability.

Seppuku stomped his foot down and turned, “So, what are you guys going to argue about _this_ time!?” Chiya looked at him with a half glare, Earl raised an eyebrow, “How about we argue about who has the better hair.”

Chiya looked at Earl's hair for a moment, “I think that-”

“-or how about who has the best personality?” Both young adults dropped their lips without a response, “Oh, oh, I know; how about an argument over who I would rescue first in a fire?”

It was during Seppuku's argument that Chiya looked past Seppuku's shoulder; she gasped and grabbed her forehead as a man with a brown coat and fedora rounded the corner of the Mother-Q tower. More than 6 feet in height, pale skin, and metal boots; there was no doubting who this was.

Seppuku cleared his throat and continued, “What I'm getting at is that you two-”

Chiya pushed Seppuku aside and begun sprinting after the tall man. Earl and Seppuku watched her run towards the man in confusion, but the identity of this man became clear judging from the silver boots and red pants.

“Chiya, wait! He's too powerful!” shouted Seppuku.

Earl grunted and barred his teeth down, then took off like a bullet after Chiya, “Wait, Chiya! Come back!”

 

 

 

Blood Falcon approached the much protected door to Mother-Q, four machine gun turrets protected the door from intruders. Just as Mother-Q had taken control of the turrets, Blood Falcon removed his coat and fedora—revealing his typical red suit and helmet. He grinned and held out two grenades.

The turrets began firing at him, but he moved away from the door with superhuman speed. Both grenades were thrown with intense power, both munitions pierced the door and exploded on impact. Both the turrets and door were destroyed as a result. The supernatural being proceeded into the tower with not a moment to spare.

Chiya was running towards the smoke that the grenade blasts had left behind, Seppuku and Earl were far behind. She pulled out her handgun whilst running with the intention of taking Blood Falcon out as soon as she could see him. The people of Aeropolis began to swarm Mother-Q, no one had any idea what was going on. Many were looking at Earl and Seppuku, believing the two to either be criminals or aid on the account of their exposed weapons.

From within Mother-Q, Blood Falcon approached a small computer terminal ~~—~~ Mother-Q's security access. He acted quickly, bypassing several firewalls and code locks; all that remained was to install the virus Dark Million had created. With a swift motion, the clone raised the infected disc and searched for a drive to place it in.

As the clone searched, Chiya charged into the room and took aim at the tall man, her hair whipped across her face in the process.

“Stop!”

Blood Falcon grunted and looked over at Chiya, his shocked expression was short; for he saw nothing but humor in the threat, “Huh? Is this a joke?”

“I- I've got a gun!”

The disc was set aside, he turned with a fierce stare and sharp teeth, “Seppuku sent one of his lackeys to deal with _me_?” he face palmed and shook while chuckling, “…how tragic…”

“Blood Falcon, you may be a threat on the track; but this isn't F-Zero—I have the edge on you. Don't make me kill you!”

“Is that so? The edge. You have the edge on me?” Chiya lowered her eyebrows with great concern. “Your skin shines like snow, and your hair like a dandelion. What business might Seppuku have with a Mysterian female?”

Chiya shook off his question, “I'm giving you until the count of three… One-”

“Two.”

The Mysterian widened her eyes, “Uh, two...”

Perfect silence and stillness separated the two, Chiya was left with quivering eyes of immense fright. The clone gave her a mere smirk—and not a fake one. The smirk was unquestionable, a true expression that lacked concern, fear, or even hatred.

In the end, Chiya decided against speaking the last number aloud; rather, she accepted an inevitable conflict and fired her weapon at Blood Falcon. Her bullet went forward, but the clone was gone before she could even react. He somehow dashed away from the bullet and got up to her face within a second, Chiya gasped and fired her taser at him, but he somehow dodged this as well. Finally, she took many sloppy shots around the room—all of which Blood Falcon dodged by, essentially, teleporting around the room.

“Come on!” she whined.

Blood Falcon continued to dance beside each of her bullets; he may have appeared like a ballerina, but he was making his point clear to her. The clone couldn't be stopped, not by a fighter of her current experience.

“Come off it, what kind of monster are you..?” she muttered in shock.

Blood Falcon stopped behind her and grabbed her shoulders, “A servant of divine morality—not a monster.”

Chiya turned around to try shooting him in the face at point blank, but he grabbed her hand with ease. She grunted not knowing what to do, his grasp on her was solid. She punched him across the face with her other hand, but the result was that of clear ineffectiveness; as if she had punched a block of rubber. Chiya was now convinced that she had made a very bad mistake running ahead of Seppuku.

“Oh, come on… Your feeble attempts at hurting me are amusing. I implore that you continue.”

The Mysterian's eyes continued to quiver in immense motions, her Mysterian Blue eyes up against the glowing white eyes of his visor. She had nothing to try on him.

“I- I can't…”

“You can't, or you _won't_?”

Chiya closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, “I can't! This isn't a fair fight!”

More silence ensued, but Blood Falcon chuckled nonetheless, “I am conflicted on how I feel about this. I respect that you use your brain and cease fighting an unwinnable fight; but I find it pathetic that you back out of a fight you started. Smart? Somewhat; a warrior? Not even close.”

He kicked her down onto the floor with ease; her chin slammed down against the floor—leaving a painful feeling throughout her jaw.

“You were a fool. A human cannot defeat one with the blood of Dark Million. The blood gives me an inconceivable amount of power that outmatches human strength.” He crossed his arms and laughed, “But even if you possessed Dark Million blood, you'd still lose; for you are a natural born weakling and inept to-”

Chiya sent her gun upward as she got on her knees, she took quick aim at the clone's torso. Before she could pull the trigger, Blood Falcon grabbed her by the hair and tugged down—this forced her to look at him.

“It eludes me; why Seppuku of all people would take you in as an accomplice. You're just a pathetic little girl…” He rubbed his chin and hummed, “Are you offering _services_ to Seppuku?”

“I'm his friend…” she argued.

Blood Falcon grunted, “Friend?”

Yet another brief period of silence ensued as the two gazed at one another. Blood Falcon appeared surprised by the answer, and his only response was that of extreme cruelty. He stomped on her hand with great force. The unsettling sound of bones snapping along with extreme pain left Chiya screaming on the floor, she could only somewhat feel the gun wrapped around her hand, but everything else felt numb.

Blood Falcon stepped off of her hand and let her roll up in a ball, she hid her face under her breasts while cradling herself.

“I'd feel bad killing a woman of your age,” Chiya widened her eyes as he tugged her hair down again, forcing her to look up at his face. “But I'll get over it.”

The first moment he stopped speaking, Earl had charged into the room and rammed into Blood Falcon. The clone regained control of his stance and turned towards Earl, the Korean held up his handgun and took immediate shots. Just like Chiya, he was making no progress at all. Blood Falcon dashed past his bullets and moved up to Earl, then smashed his fist up his chin. Earl's handgun was propelled into the air after the hit, thus leaving him defenseless. Earl hit the ground and made loud grunts, shocked at how effective his punch was. Earl got right back on his feet and looked at Blood Falcon without fear.

“So, you've got powers of some sort…” Earl muttered while rubbing off the pain. Blood Falcon nodded at Earl, respecting his willingness to fight after such a painful strike to the chin. “But I've got bad news for you; I still have two fists!” Earl exclaimed with two fists up.

Blood Falcon hummed and jumped toward him, punching Earl straight in the stomach. Earl punched Blood Falcon's throat, which knocked his head aside. Earl retreated from him for a second to recover from the blow to the stomach; he momentarily launched himself at Blood Falcon again. Earl grabbed onto Blood Falcon's hands, trying to block his attacks. The clone laughed at his feeble attempt to stop the punches and somehow threw Earl across the room, as if it were Blood Falcon who had been holding Earl's hands. Chiya looked up at the two while trying to carefully get the handgun out of her broken hand, every single time she tugged the gun her hand would burn in pain.

Earl stood up again with a remaining desire to fight Blood Falcon. Before he could make a strike, Blood Falcon had tossed Earl aside again; he landed beside Chiya. An exhausted Earl got off his knees, still not prepared to surrender; but again he was lifted up by Blood Falcon. Earl looked Blood Falcon in the eyes for a moment and gulped. Next, Blood Falcon began to unleash a beating Earl's face. Chiya looked at the two in horror, Blood Falcon couldn't be stopped. After a fast beating, Blood Falcon tossed Earl to the floor near Chiya, where he lay grunting.

Blood Falcon took slow steps toward the two as he prepared to kill both. Earl managed to get back onto his knees, but was traumatized at the sight of blood dripping down his face. The Korean gazed at his palm as blood dripped onto it; he had no idea where the blood was coming from, only that it was getting on his hair as well. The blood was affecting Earl's mind in a traumatizing way.

“That's a lot of blood, you look surprised…” Blood Falcon said with a grin.

Earl did not respond to him, he collapsed onto the ground in defeat and groaned. Blood Falcon nodded at Earl, then looked over at Chiya who was still trying to get the gun out of her broken hand; the pain was keeping her from pulling it out.

“Weak, but he did make more progress than you,” he said to Chiya.

Chiya looked up at him and gritted her teeth in rage, but couldn't find the correct words to use; her broken hand was keeping her from thinking clearly. Blood Falcon began to move towards her but was stopped as he heard footsteps approaching. Blood Falcon spun around excited to take out his third opponent ~~—~~ Seppuku.

Blood Falcon beamed at the man in excitement, finally seeing a challenge in front of him. Seppuku simply looked around the room and found Earl's handgun lying across the room, and Chiya struggling to get a hold of hers. He sighed and shook in disapproval.

“Of course they tried killing you with guns…” Seppuku complained.

Blood Falcon grinned at him as he prepared to put an end to Seppuku's life, “I was hoping to take down Captain Falcon as well, but he doesn't seem to be available…”

“Captain Falcon would have no interest in this ordeal. He's too busy chowing down on a cake made of gold and diamonds as millions of his slave fans watch.”

Seppuku cracked his knuckles and charged at Blood Falcon, wanting to get the show on the road. The two were placed in immediate combat; both fighting each other in hand-to-hand combat. Both were masterfully dodging attacks, both with hand and foot movement. Seppuku managed to strike Blood Falcon up the chin; but unlike Chiya and Earl's strikes, Blood Falcon displayed pain. Immediately after, Blood Falcon got his signature grin and returned a punch to Seppuku's chest. Seppuku spat on the ground after getting punched and locked hands together with Blood Falcon.

Chiya looked up at the two in amazement, the two were so similar in terms of strength; oddly enough, Seppuku was the only one able to inflict harm of any sort. Seppuku and Blood Falcon stepped away from each other, then dashed toward each other with incredible speed, they began punching and blocking each other as if they were engaged in a sword fight, only they were combating with bare fists. At this point even Earl was observing the two, both Chiya and Earl were amazed at how fast their fists and feet were flying, it was far beyond normal. Earl wiped his hand across his face, and to his surprise found an entire palm of thin blood. He glanced at Chiya, who widened her eyes in response. The Korean didn't know it, but his entire face was masked in blood and sweat.

Blood Falcon soon leapt away from Seppuku and crossed his arms together, realizing that regular fist fighting would not resolute the predicament.

“We'll be at this for hours, so let's show off our moves and be done with this…”

Seppuku raised an eyebrow, “What are you proposing?”

Blood Falcon approached him while pulling his glove down more, “Tell me, Seppuku. Do you have enough energy left to do this?” Blood Falcon held his hand back, which began to glow ghastly blue as he proceeded to conduct some kind of power.

Seppuku gritted his teeth and flexed his arm up, but as Blood Falcon had hoped, Seppuku was tired and exhausted. He turned his head back toward Blood Falcon and growled, “No, I don't. I haven't slept or had a good meal in days…”

The clone chuckled, “Sad…” The white eyes on his visor began to glow white as he pulled his clenched fist back more, “Falcon… Pu ~~—~~ unch!”

A blinding flash and trail of energy trailed Blood Falcon's fist as it fired forward like a bolt of lightning. Seppuku attempted to block the attack by crossing his arms, but alas, the Falcon Punch Blood Falcon performed broke through the defense like butter. Seppuku was propelled toward the wall at an amazing speed and knocked out upon hitting the wall. A victorious Blood Falcon raised three fingers, looking at all of Seppuku's organization on the ground defeated.

“That'll be three points for me!” he gloated. Blood Falcon looked toward Seppuku's unconscious person and gave a mocking laugh, “Fool. Whether you be human or blessed with this blood, sleep and healthy eating is mandatory for a full tank of energy. Party and drink all you want, but I will always be a step ahead of you in terms of energy. I will always be able to defeat you with a Falcon Punch; because I am smarter than you, Red Dove. Smarter, and far more competent.”

Chiya threw her other hand on her gun in desperation; she knew that she was the only one who could still fight. She was close to yanking the gun out of her broken hand, but it was too late; Blood Falcon was approaching her.

“I thought I dealt with you already, girl…”

Chiya looked up at him in great fear and gulped, he was looking down at her hand realizing that he damaged it, “A broken hand?” He raised his foot over the hand, preparing to further crush it for the very dark gratification it would bring him.

“God, please no, please no!” Chiya pleaded.

“Pain is the only way you'll learn, child.”

Blood Falcon laughed while Chiya cringed in preparation for a new world of pain, followed by an inevitable death. Though Blood Falcon had proven himself more powerful than anyone in the room, he still found someone attempting to stop him ~~—~~ Earl. The Korean had latched himself around the clone's foot in an attempt to stop him from further hurting Chiya. Chiya gasped at Earl, he wasn't attacking Blood Falcon, but he was blocking him nonetheless. Blood Falcon grinned at Earl's feeble attempt to stop him. Earl wasn't keeping Blood Falcon from stomping on Chiya, but was prepared to die protecting her.

“How noble…” he muttered with a grin.

Blood Falcon tried to kick the man away, but Earl wouldn't let go. Blood Falcon marched away from Chiya while attempting to drag Earl off his leg. Blood Falcon growled at Earl as he refused to let go of him, he grabbed him by the neck in response.

He tossed Earl aside and spoke, “You weak fool…”

Blood Falcon turned toward Mother-Q before pulling out the disc, the time for evil was upon the planet. Meanwhile, Seppuku shook his head as he began to wake up. Blood Falcon looked over at him, expecting a second round from Seppuku.

“You're too late, Seppuku. Starting now, Aeropolis will be under new control, a milestone for the Dark Million Empire!”

Seppuku now looked up at Blood Falcon and chuckled. Blood Falcon changed his expression to a bland one, confused as to what Seppuku could be chuckling at in such a dark situation. Seppuku looked at Blood Falcon with a grin.

“Hold that disc up for a moment.”

Blood Falcon gritted his teeth, “What?” He held the disc up and tilted his head, “What are you on about?” Immediately after asking, the disc shattered into pieces.

The clone grunted and looked at the small remnant of the disc he was still holding, his mouth began to twitch as his plan had been foiled. Turning around revealed Captain Falcon holding a gun. Blood Falcon was caught off guard, not expecting Captain Falcon to show up. Nonetheless, Blood Falcon returned a grin and dropped the useless remnant of the disc. Blood Falcon proceeded to drop a device down and stepped forward.

“As much as I'd love to kill you, I really must be going…” Blood Falcon said as he began to glow green.

Captain Falcon put away his handgun and nodded. Blood Falcon looked down as his image began to fade away; he had somehow teleported elsewhere in defeat. With Blood Falcon gone, Seppuku stood up and approached Captain Falcon.

“Heh, Falcon. I'm surprised you came.” The Man of Darkness shrugged, “I had this situation handled, but you know, thanks anyway.”

Falcon nodded, “This isn't F-Zero. If you really wanted me dead you would have worked together with Blood Falcon in the Grand Prix, what you did was a mere act of greed.”

Seppuku clenched his fist and shook in disagreement, “It wasn't greed, something happened to me during that race. Something evil…”

“Whatever the case, Blood Falcon's plan has been foiled. We've won.”

 “No, it's not over, not yet.” He slapped Captain Falcon's shoulder, “I have a feeling Chain and Blaskovitz are mere appetizers to a much bigger struggle…”

“Indeed.”

Earl approached Seppuku while holding Chiya's broken hand, she was trembling in pain and at a loss for words. Seppuku looked at Earl's face and grunted after seeing all of the blood that covered him.

“Earl, you're a bloody mess!” Seppuku joked.

Earl narrowed his eyes in disgust, offended that he would joke in such a situation, “Chiya and I got here so quickly. What were you doing, waiting for a bus?”

“Nah, I was waiting for a taxi.”

 

 

Much later, Chiya and Earl sat together out on the deck of the abandoned store, it was now later in the evening with a Grand Prix away in the record books and a horrendous Blood Falcon encounter put away. No one was going to bother think about Goroh or the gang war, it was time for a much needed break.

Earl finished wrapping up Chiya's broken hand and then taped it down. The hand would take a long time to heal. First the damages done to the hand would need to be situated through rest, then they would have to seek medical treatment at a hospital—where surgery would need to be performed.

“There, you're lucky he didn't crush it some more, you probably would've needed a new hand altogether,” Earl explained in a calm voice.

Chiya glanced up at him, only revealing one eye, “Thanks…”

Earl still had his hand on her wrist, he was distracted by her hand. Earl had forgotten what it was like to help Chiya with things, as he always found joy in helping her. His hand began to tremble as he slowly began to rub his fingers along her skin. Earl bit on his lip, knowing that he was about to surrender.

“You have very soft hands…” he said while holding her wrist.

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him and looked away, “Thanks, again…”

Earl removed his hand from her arm, not wanting to provoke her further. He then shut his eyes and clenched his fist, “I'm so sorry, Chiya…”

Chiya turned her head with a stuck out lip, “Sorry for what?”

“It was all my fault, all of it. You were right…” Chiya's eyes widened as Earl finally began to break down, “I may think that your reasoning for being mad at me is silly, but the fact remains, you were offended and I should have just apologized from the start.”

Chiya's eyes began to tremble, she had her teeth gritted while listening to him, “I don't-”

“It's obvious what happened. Sure, I was mad about you shooting me, but in reality I just wanted to be right; that's all it ever was. I just felt that I needed to be right. But I've been in the wrong from the very start. I am sorry that my reaction made you sad, and I'm _really_ sorry for calling you an autistic- you know…”

Chiya felt like her heart had stopped, she had finally achieved the victory she set out to acquire, but she wasn't feeling good about it. She no longer felt obliged to gloat about her victory as she had envisioned, but rather, she felt somewhat ashamed. She felt wrong taking total victory.

“I'm starting to wonder if you were right, it's possible that I was overreacting about your trust…”

Chiya jolted up straight as Earl grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes, “Chiya, for God's sake; understand where I'm coming from.” He raised one hand up and explained, “I risked my life getting us out of that Red Star base, nearly died aboard that transport trying to keep you safe, stayed close to you during our encounter with Guster, risked losing my job by working on your machine over Seppuku's, carried and tucked you into your bed, spent all of my money buying a ship to rescue you, and even threw myself at Blood Falcon to prevent him from hurting you.”

“I overreacted,” she admitted with closed eyes.

Earl exhaled in relief, thus concluding the period of tension between the two. It was a discomforting set of days between the two, but now they could restructure their friendship.

Chiya held her cheek and sighed, “The truth is…” she gritted her teeth fearing what he would think of her next words, “Every time I yelled at you I felt like I was dying inside, even if I did believe you were a bad person. A big part of me didn't want you to leave me…” Earl nodded, she crossed her legs while rubbing the back of her head, “I especially felt bad when I shot at you…”

Earl grinned and swished his hand, “Admittedly, you're not the first girl to try and shoot me…”

Chiya immediately giggled at this and looked away. She then looked down at her knees and lowered her eyebrows, “It wasn't _all_ your fault that I got angry, anyways…” Earl raised an eyebrow as she twirled her bangs around, “I- I was in the middle of an… undesirable phase…”

Earl had no idea what she was talking about, “Well, alright then.”

Seppuku looked at the two from around the door and grinned, “Thank God…”

Chiya spotted Seppuku watching the two and slid a bit away from Earl, as she had found herself getting closer to him, “Hello.”

Seppuku converted his grin into a bland look, “If you two are quite finished, I'd like to discuss how we're going to fix the Red Dove…”

Chiya turned her head toward Earl, who was beginning to moan, “Trust me, that thing's fried. Repairing it will be both expensive and beyond difficult,” Earl then grinned at him, “But Chiya and I will get it back in shape!”

Seppuku nodded, then walked away from the two pleased with the results. Chiya and Earl could now begin rebuilding their friendship. With Blood Falcon stopped for the moment, all that was left to do was stop the gang war of Mute City. Chiya looked at Earl's face and puckered her lips.

“Your face took a real beating…”

“And you're left-handed, now.”


	30. Lap 30

==Lap 31=  


Home again, Chiya Flower had returned to the new life Seppuku gave her. It wasn't until returning from Aeropolis that Chiya entered somewhat of a mini depression; she had been home sick, but hadn't realized just how horrid the Lower City was in comparison to Aeropolis. To go from a planet of luxury, free healthcare, no crime, and lots to do; back to Lower City, riddled with gang violence, drugs, no entertainment, and just about any form of misery. There was no doubting Chiya's comparison, Aeropolis made the Lower City look worse—if that was even possible.

Be that as it may, Chiya was elated to be home for a multitude of reasons. A decent home, comfortable bed, the Falcon House, and most important to her—the _Purring Kitten_.

Earl chuckled whilst shaking his head, “Chiya... I don't mean to pull you apart from your true love, but, I feel as though you'd find more comfort sleeping in a bed.”

The Mysterian had her boots off and was laying on the flat body of her F-Zero machine. A pleasant sight for Earl, as the woman's happiness was unquestionable. After having spent days bickering and fighting with Chiya, he was well ready to resume seeing her this way—cheerful and thankful.

Chiya exhaled in joy and rubbed her palm across the metal body, “Earl, have you ever had one of those experiences where you acquired something you once thought impossible to achieve?”

The Korean grinned and squinted at the headlight of her machine. He had yet to install a light emitter, therefore nighttime driving would remain dangerous. He soon looked up at her and made a pleasured hum.

“I think I know where you're going with this.”

“Never could I have imagined actually owning an F-Zero machine. Never. It was a common fantasy, but in the back of my head I always thought of it as nothing but fantasy.” She reached over and poked her fingers against the cockpit window. She came face-to-face with her own happy reflection. “I lived a hard life up until now, but patience and faith has finally rewarded me. I have a machine, a home, money-”

“Friends,” he added.

Chiya nodded with a smile, “I may not have much of those mentioned things. I've got the worst F-Zero machine in the universe right now, given that it still lacks much needed parts. This isn't much of a house, rather, it's more so a base. I don't have much money, only enough to satisfy my partial life needs. I still don't have much, but it's enough.”

Earl grunted and raised an eyebrow, “You're content with these living conditions?”

“I'm content, because I know this is far better than my previous life. I mustn't take it for granted.”

The Korean nodded with a grin, “Huh, wish I had that kind of spirit. I, personally, could breathe fire over Seppuku's decision to keep us down in this foxhole we call 'home'.”

This comment was made in the form of an opinion, but it still made Chiya frown, “You don't agree with me?”

Earl sat down on the _Purring Kitten_ with her and sighed with crossed arms, “I understand and respect your opinion on the matter, but the thing is; we shouldn't be down here. There are many places in the Upper City we could buy, yet _he_ keeps us down here where we are made subject to gang violence- Hell, not even gang violence—crime in general.”

The Mysterian placed a finger over her bottom lip, “You sound a bit mad at Seppuku...”

“He's a moron!” Chiya gulped and widened her eyes, then began to tug on her shirt collar. “The man wishes to build up a powerful vigilante organization, yet he keeps us in the least opportune place in the universe! Why? Because _he_ likes it down here!”

“Uh... Earl...”

Earl continued, “And I know what you just said is true, you and I should both be thankful to live here; but God damn that stubborn man. He's our leader, obviously, and a leader must aspire to lead his men to victory in a way that benefits both the common man _and_ the boss. He's lopsided on the concept. If he were a good leader, he'd have us pack our things for the Upper City—where we'd be safe and less frightened. But God forbid he give up his 'hunts' on our behalf...”

Chiya face palmed, “...Earl...”

“Don't even get me started on F-Zero. Free labor is what it is. I fix the man's machine and will now be fixing your machine as well. How much am I paid? That's right, less than minimum wage. _Way less_. Instead of paying me more for my services, that money is going towards beer and... _online subscriptions_...”

Earl breathed in preparation to continue talking, but Chiya slapped her palm over his mouth to stop him, “Earl, please stop...”

Seppuku sighed from behind the _Purring Kitten_ , “Yeah, shut the Hell up.”

The Korean's eyes widened upon hearing Seppuku from behind; a dark array of guilt and shame overcame him. The lieutenant remained behind the F-Zero machine tapping his foot down in frustration.

“Idiot, we stay down here not because of some very fun hobby of mine; we stay here because it's more strategic. Risky, yes; but your two pieces of criticism correlate against you quite well.”

Chiya and Earl both turned their heads; Earl did so with a challenging face, “How so?”

“You whine about wanting to move upstairs in Mute City, yet you proceed to complain about low wage. Well, which is it? See, down here we don't have to pay taxes and bills; we would if we moved anywhere else in the universe. Not to mention, since we make profit off of looting assholes, living so far away from the Lower City would diminish the rate of profit by an immense amount. If anything, you're the idiot and Flower's a genius.”

 Chiya was elated to hear this compliment, but she refrained from making a positive reaction. Earl rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Okay, fine. But can I just have a little more of a raise?”

“No.”

The Korean brought his fingers together, “Literally, the smallest raise. Again, I'm not disagreeing with Chiya's pay, she deserves that much money; but for God's sake I need more money for the sake of living!”

“Bendek, don't...” Seppuku snapped his fingers, “Flower, what's a funny English word for 'mess around'?”

“Pussyfoot?”

“Bendek, don't pussyfoot around with me. You're a drunkard just like me, maybe if _you_ didn't buy so much beer, you'd still have some extra cash laying around, yeah?”

Earl was infuriated by this argument, but defeated—this comment was shameful and embarrassing to him, given that it was made in front of Chiya. The Mysterian didn't regard the comment pertaining to alcoholism as pathetic, but more so unfortunate. In Earl's mind, however, he could only imagine the many hypothetical thoughts Chiya could be having about him.

Chiya cleared her throat and nodded, “Hey, hey, hey. Enough of that, we're all friends!”

Seppuku crossed his arms, “You sure about that, Flower? I get the feeling _someone_ in this garage doesn't feel the same way...”

Earl lowered his eyebrows in frustration, “Sorry, let's just forget I even said anything. It's not the first time I said something without thinking...”

Chiya frowned at Earl and placed a hand over his shoulder, Seppuku scoffed at the mechanic, “Yep, and for God's sake get the Red Dove fixed immediately.”

With this said, Seppuku departed from the garage and slammed the door behind him. The door echoed throughout the room like a gunshot. Chiya jumped at the door slam, but to her surprise Earl treated this as though it were normal. He remained seated beside her, lost in his mind and without expression.

“Hey, um... Earl?” The man nodded. “Uh, I know it's time for bed, but how about I stay up another hour or so and we can watch TV in your room.”

The attempt to make Earl feel better was good, but ineffective in this situation. He shook his head and scratched his chin, “Uh, no, I'm good. Another time, definitely; but we just got back from Aeropolis and I'm tired now, you know?”

Chiya rolled her eyes aside and nodded, “Of course.”

Both got up and walked for the door at the same time, but Earl did so with more speed and thus left the garage before her. Chiya stopped at the garage door with somewhat wide eyes, then frowned as it closed behind Earl. She had just fixed her friendship with Earl, now she feared the exact same predicament may be trailing for Seppuku and Earl.

At this rate of stability, both gangs were in excellent positions to strike down Seppuku's whole organization—whilst they fought amongst each other over the little things.

 

 

 

Two days later, Chiya and Earl sat together at the Falcon House. Seppuku had lost the Grand Prix, but he was satisfied knowing that Chiya and Earl were friends again. With Blood Falcon's plan foiled, all that remained was to finish off the gang war for good—a work in progress. The challenge the three now faced was that the _Red Dove_ was very damaged and would take many days, if not weeks, to repair with only one mechanic. For now, the trio were living post-Prix life in a casual way.

Chiya gazed at her bandaged hand and continued on with a conversation, “It's already been a burden on my life. I ended up breaking a glass when I reached out for it, for some reason I just keep forgetting that I can't use this hand.”

Bart nodded, “A common mistake; I agree with Earl that you're lucky to still have a hand at all. Blood Falcon could have easily destroyed it if he felt like doing so.”

Chiya widened her eyes at the thought of losing her hand, as she would have had to amputate it and replace it with an artificial one.

Bart looked over at Earl, who had several bruises on his face, “So which one of you got the worst of it?”

“Chiya, by far,” Earl answered. “I had no idea where my bleeding was coming from until we got away from Mother-Q; he nearly put a gash up on my forehead, but it wasn't large enough to be life threatening.”

Chiya studied his forehead, but his hair was covering the wound from sight.

“At any rate, I'm glad you two made it out okay.”

The television above the counter switched over to an F-Zero interview starring Mr. Zero. Everyone in the Falcon House looked up at the screen with interest.

Every time a Grand Prix concluded, the winner would be interviewed on F-Zero TV. The screen zoomed in on Jody Summer and Mr. Zero; a man in a suit with green hair and red goggles. At this moment, Chiya had a neutral opinion of Jody, she viewed her as both an ally and foe, but very often a threat to their operations.

Mr. Zero raised the microphone to his mouth, “The annual Grand Prix has come to an end and we are here live with the winner; Jody Summer, pilot of the White Cat and chief commander of the Galactic Space Federation.”

The screen ran through highlights of Jody Summer during the Grand Prix; Chiya acknowledged the fact that the highlight of Seppuku saving her was missing.

“Glad to have you here, Ms. Summer. Your fans are overjoyed by your first time win, what are your initial thoughts?”

Jody expressed no emotion at the question, “I'm very glad to have brought them joy, we're hoping that my victory may inspire younger fans to join the Galactic Space Federation, work up the ranks, and help retain peace throughout the universe.”

“I see. Possibly the biggest question people have for you is what you plan on doing with the one billion credits in prize money?”

Chiya tapped her fingers on the counter with anxiousness, hoping that Jody may share some of the money with Seppuku to help fund his organization. Of course, she knew this to be beyond unlikely; she could at the very least hope that the money is spent in a way that aids them in their fight against the gangs.

“All of it is going toward the Galactic Space Federation. By doing this we can upgrade the Federation as a whole and redistribute money to the poor. I believe this is the wisest way I can spend the money.”

“So, you don't plan on spending any of it on yourself?”

“No, The White Cat is property of the Galactic Space Federation; therefore, I race on the Federation's behalf.”

Earl looked at the screen surprised, he began to chuckle silently, “She's blowing it all on her job. Seppuku's going to be so mad…”

The screen began to zoom in on Mr. Zero's face as he cleared his throat, “You decided to combat the man who once served beside you as a Federation detective lieutenant after he took out Captain Falcon. Are you saying that Lieutenant Seppuku is now on par with someone like Blood Falcon?”

Chiya and Earl both gasped; the Mysterian's left eyebrow twitched in fear at what her response would be as Seppuku's entire reputation could be crushed by one answer. Earl bit on his finger while Bart stood still gazing at the screen in anticipation.

Jody shook her head, “Captain Falcon personally came to me this morning and requested that I pardon the Lieutenant's behavior; he claims that it was a miscommunication between the two that led to the ' _accidental retirement_ '...”

“Accidental? A bit fishy, don't you think?”

Chiya glared at Mr. Zero, who was seeking a personal opinion from Jody.

“I don't know how in any way that was an accident,” Jody admitted. “Captain Falcon insists that we forgive Seppuku, and since Captain Falcon is a great friend of the Federation, I will honor his wish and not speak publicly of the event.”

Chiya and Earl both exhaled in relief that the question had been avoided, it was obvious that Jody was going to answer every question with the Federation somewhere in her answer.

“That was just too close…” Earl muttered.

“I'm just as surprised as you are,” Seppuku said approaching the two.

Chiya jolted up in surprise to see Seppuku in the Falcon House, it was rare enough to see him outside of his office; seeing the man in the Upper City at a café was beyond strange. Seppuku and Bart proceeded to exchange stares, but neither spoke to the other as Seppuku then grinned at Chiya.

“Flower,” she nodded her head, fearing what he could want with her that would bring him all the way up here. “I've decided that you've been doing a good job up to this point, so I wanted to reward you...”

Chiya bounced up at the sound of this, “Wow! Thanks!”

Seppuku chuckled at her, which put a look of suspicion onto the girl's face.

Earl turned his head and raised an eyebrow, “Why is it that I never get a reward?”

“Fix my machine, then I'll let you ask me that again.”

Earl narrowed his eyes in frustration. Chiya at this point was feeling somewhat uneasy about what this reward was, anything good sounding that came out of Seppuku's mouth was in all actuality a bad thing.

“What kind of reward..?” Chiya questioned.

“It's a secret…”

Chiya sighed and dipped her head down, “Oh no…”

 

 

 

Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku later stood in the garage. Seppuku had promised Chiya a reward, but neither Chiya nor Earl were convinced that it was a good reward. Still, Chiya could hope for something good.

“Are we painting the Purring Kitten?” Seppuku shook his head. “Are we going somewhere fun?”

Seppuku raised his finger slightly, “You're getting closer, but stop guessing or you'll ruin the damn surprise!”

Earl was left staring at Seppuku in confusion, curious as to what he had in store for Chiya. Seppuku approached the _Purring Kitten_ and tugged on his scarf while thinking.

“Bendek, you say the communication headset is in Flower's machine?” asked Seppuku.

Earl nodded, “Well, yes. But I can get it out if you-”

“I changed my mind, keep it in her machine.”

Earl raised an eyebrow and hummed, this was likely relevant to Chiya's reward in some way. Seppuku had taken out a headset from her machine and put it in his pocket, the headset allowed for someone to speak with the driver from a completely different location. Seppuku stepped away from the two and displayed a look of eagerness as he rubbed his hands together. Chiya's eyes quivered in fear; she was almost certain that this wasn't going to be the reward she was hoping for.

“Alright, we're heading to the Gambling Area of Mute City,” Seppuku finally revealed.

Earl beamed, “You sure this is Chiya's reward?”

“Trust me, you won't be anywhere near the gambling stations where we're going...”

Earl shot back a disappointed look, Chiya frowned and gave Seppuku a brave look of defiance, “I want Earl to get a reward too.”

“Why?” he almost shouted.

Chiya felt as though she had melted into her boots upon hearing his loud response, she couldn't find the spirit to argue him. Seppuku turned around and began walking toward Earl's car. Earl walked ahead of him expecting that he would be the one driving. Chiya sighed and approached the back door of the vehicle, she began to open it, but Seppuku slammed the door shut to prevent her from entering.

“What are you doing?” asked Seppuku. Chiya blinked with curiosity. “Take your F-Zero machine.”

Chiya laughed at him, “Have you noticed that I'm minus a hand?”

“So?”

Chiya dipped her head with a questionable look, “We ~~—~~ ell, believe it or not, you need two hands to drive…”

“Then you'll be the first F-Zero racer to drive with one hand.”

The Mysterian narrowed her eyes, “It's in bad practice to drive with one hand. I could hurt myself, or even worse, hurt others.”

“Flower, come on…” Chiya shook her head. “Are you actually telling me that you'll go months without driving that machine?” The girl's eyes widened, having not thought of this. “Yes, it's unsafe to drive with one hand; but if you don't, you won't have the needed experience to get your F-Zero license by next year.”

It was basic knowledge and safety precaution throughout history to drive with both hands on the wheel. Chiya was on the right side of the argument, however, it was true that she would need to wait many months for her hand to heal. By the time her hand would normalize, the next Grand Prix would be underway.

“Bloody Hell, fine. I'll be really gentle with my broken hand.”

Seppuku nodded with a smirk, “Very well, work with the pain.” The man sat inside the car and tipped his fedora down, “Bendek, off we go.”

 

 

A few minutes later, Earl and Seppuku led Chiya at a normal speed through the streets. They were nearing a very flashy part of Mute City that could be best compared to other cities on Earth such as Las Vegas ~~—~~ Las Vegas was, coincidentally, where the final race of the next Grand Prix would take place. Many people were in the area with ambient music playing throughout the streets; this was the gambling area of Mute City—home of the famous Casino Palace.

Earl had a grin on his face as he drove through the lighted up streets, “Just saying, you give me five hundred credits, and I can make three thousand from that. Just send me here.”

“Gambling is more so about probability than skill, in my opinion. I wouldn't risk losing that much by giving it to you.”

“Just a thought to consider.”

Seppuku looked back at the _Purring Kitten_ , Chiya didn't have any problems keeping up with them, “Where are we going, _exactly_?” asked Earl.

“Secret.”

The Korean chuckled, “Yes, but be that as it may, I'm the one driving. Where are we going?”

Seppuku took a moment to think, then exhaled with eagerness. “Underground race track for bet races.”

Earl affirmed this with a nod, “Bet races, eh? Gotta say, Seppuku; you picked a good reward for Chiya. I don't think she'll ever get tired of watching F-Zero.”

“You bet, and we're going to make _a lot_ of money tonight, Bendek.”

“Why's that? Who are we betting on?”

Silence ensued, and Seppuku tried with all his might to block a humored expression from coming on. Earl raised an eyebrow at the man's abrupt decision to giggle, then grunted with wide eyes.

“Seppuku, you didn't…” he muttered in disbelief.

“Indeed, I did.”

Seppuku began to chuckle as Earl figured out what was really going on.

Chiya was looking at the people of the streets with a somewhat shy face; everyone was looking at her since she was the only one driving an F-Zero machine. She glanced over at the sidewalk expecting negative reactions, but was relieved to find that most people were excited to see her machine. Chiya smiled and waved at some of the people, relieved that no one was mad at her for showing off her machine. _That's right! Future Grand Prix champion coming through..!_

 

 

The two vehicles continued down a tunnel leading downward into some kind of underground layer of Mute City. The first thing Chiya spotted was several parked cars; they were now in a large parking lot. Earl's car didn't appear prepared to park, however, as it continued down a narrow passageway. Chiya continued to follow Earl straight through the passageway, she was becoming concerned with the area they were in, as it seemed dark and secreted. Earl's car stopped a short distance into the passageway, Seppuku opened the door and began moving towards the _Purring Kitten_. Chiya opened her cockpit window and looked down at Seppuku as he approached her; he made a hand gesture signaling for her to remain still.

Seppuku leaned towards Chiya and pointed down the passageway, “Keep going down this path and park wherever you wish, then find Earl and I inside the bar.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, “Okay, but where are we?”

Seppuku chuckled and stepped away from her machine, “In time. Just do as I ask, child…”

Chiya nodded and continued down the path, she felt that she was going to get herself in trouble. After a few moments of driving she entered a large parking lot full of F-Zero machines. She gasped in shock at what she was seeing. _Golden Fox, Wild Goose, King Meteor_ … she thought listing off the parked F-Zero machines. There were a handful of F-Zero machines parked in the lot; it was becoming clear to her that Seppuku had something fishy up his sleeve.

Chiya moved her machine into a more open area, trying to isolate herself from the licensed F-Zero machines. Chiya had parked the _Purring Kitten_ and now found herself clueless as to where she would find the bar.

 

 

 

Seppuku and Earl later sat around a table with fellow F-Zero racers, Silver Neelsen and Beastman. Neelsen was an elderly racer with a long white beard, goggles, and a brown leather coat; he piloted the _Night Thunder_. Beastman wore a visor like Captain Falcon, Blood Falcon, and Lieutenant Seppuku and wore a green suit with a helmet in the style of an alligator; he piloted the _Hyper Speeder_. Neither of the two placed well in this Grand Prix.

The old man brought his fists up and whined, “Kids like you are always treating F-Zero like a death match. I remember back when you weren't allowed to attack other racers on the track. Those were the days!”

“Shut up, old man…” Seppuku growled.

“I can't believe you managed to finish the last race the way you did,” Beastman acknowledged.

Chiya had at that moment entered the room and exhaled in relief at the sight of Earl and Seppuku. Seppuku turned his head and grinned.

“What took you so long?”

Chiya flailed her arms as she approached the table, “I had no idea where to go!” Everyone stared at her, “Luckily, I did run into a restroom and found that someone left some perfume there, so I'm happy now,” she said with a cute smile.

Beastman broke into laughter and looked at Seppuku, “You're betting on her? But she's so adorable, there's no way she can race…”

“She'll win, Gatorboy.”

Chiya widened her eyes in shock, “Huh, what?”

Conducting a quick examination of her surroundings revealed a very F-Zero oriented bar. She glanced over at Earl for help, he shrugged with a nervous look. Chiya whipped her head towards the three racers, now understanding what was going on.

“O—oh, no, no, no—o!” Chiya flapped her arms like a bird, “How much did you bet on me!?” she panicked.

“That's not important…”

“I can't do this! Y- You're crazy!” she spat out with flailing arms.

Silver and Beastman began to laugh at her fright, Seppuku offered a look of confidence, however. Chiya's mouth quivered in shock, trying to figure out why he would possibly enter her in a race at this time.

“You'll win, Flower.”

Chiya stepped back feeling pressured, she held her chest and began to hyperventilate. Earl felt bad for her but saw nothing that he could do to help her. Chiya put her hand on her forehead in frustration, wondering how this was a reward to her in any form.

Earl looked back at Seppuku, “She doesn't have to do this if she doesn't-”

“I already registered and bet on her ~~—~~ she's racing.” Earl narrowed his eyes at Seppuku. “Besides, this is a bulletproof way of making her an official F-Zero racer. The committee would never let her in unless she had a background that proved she could race well. Right here, if she wins this, she's in for sure. If she can defeat all these professional F-Zero racers, her F-Zero resume as might as well be sprinkled with gold.”

Chiya looked down with a quirked mouth, “He's right, winning this would increase my chances of getting an F-Zero license...”

“But don't worry, this race doesn't allow combat. All you need to do is race; no more, no less.”

Chiya looked at this predicament in a more calm state, but was still stressed by the sudden news that she would be racing against professional racers. Earl had little more to say on the matter. Chiya seemed to agree with Seppuku that she would need to race despite her injury, which overall would be a good skill building exercise. Silver Neelsen smiled at Chiya as he found her interest in becoming an F-Zero racer a wonderful thing.

Neelsen pointed at her and explained, “I've raced on this track enough to tell you that it's not as bad as you may think,” Chiya looked at Silver, wondering if she could trust the old man, “It does have fairly sharp turns, but you can use these to pass other racers; along with these are some tricky jumps you could try doing for shortcuts.”

“What makes them tricky?” she asked with intrigue.

“Well, if you don't make the jump correctly, you'll probably die.”

Chiya gulped, “I know what I'm _not_ doing then…”

Seppuku put his hand on her shoulder, “If we win, we'll cash out majorly. _No one_ is going to bet on the novice racer, meaning we'll literally win everything. We can split the cash.”

Chiya now considered this proposal with great interest. _I could paint my entire room with that money, and maybe paint my machine with the finest chrome…_ Chiya shook her head, escaping the good thought, “B- But my hand…” she pouted sadly.

“Forget about your hand! You still have _one_ don't you?”

“Yes…”

Seppuku patted her on the shoulder, “Then get back to your machine and wait for the race to start.”

Chiya gritted her teeth, not realizing that the race was so close to starting. She turned around and looked at the door, preparing to leave the bar. _Everyone in this bloody universe is insane…_ she thought while walking away.

Beastman turned his attention back onto Seppuku, “So, you really think that girl will win?”

Seppuku nodded, “She beat Michael Chain and me, there's no way she'll lose.”

Earl looked around the room for something to do; he didn't feel right being with three F-Zero racers when he himself wasn't one. Earl was bothered that he bet on Chiya, this would only add pressure onto her during the race.

“You better get going, Bendek. You've got work to do.”

Earl widened his eyes as Seppuku then forced a headset onto his head, “Wait, what?”

“Someone needs to keep Flower calm and informed during this race, you can talk to her from the private booth.”

Earl appeared surprised by his orders, not understanding why he was the one who would be guiding Chiya, “Why don't you do it?”

Seppuku grinned at him and tipped his fedora, “I have a feeling she'll prefer if you talk to her,” Earl gave him a clueless look. “She would only get scared if I were the one talking to her during the race.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right…”

 

 

 

The Grand Prix may have ended, but Seppuku wasted no time in getting Chiya involved with racing. The real question in this situation was simple: Did Seppuku do this for the sake of getting her an F-Zero license, or just so that she could make him some money. Either way, Chiya was going to give it her all and Earl was going to guide her to victory.

Fail, however, and the F-Zero committee may never be interested in considering Chiya. There was much more at stake than just money.  



	31. Lap 31

==Lap 32=

 

Chiya trembled within the _Purring Kitten_. Seppuku had forced her into a bet race, despite having little experience in racing. She knew that her broken hand would be the prime factor that messes her up during the race; the only comfort came from the fact that the race did not allow combat. The track was simple but contained a trap that would propel a machine into the air like a catapult; this could also be used to a driver's advantage.

The young Mysterian was in a state of confusion, not knowing where she stood in the situation. On one hand she had proven that she could race F-Zero pilots; but on the other hand this was a much different scenario, given that this race contained multiple opponents and allowed boosters. All that was missing was the ability to smash into other machines. She dreamt of one day racing in the big league; if she could grasp onto a miracle and win this, her F-Zero resume would be astounding—thus intensifying her odds of being given a license into F-Zero.

As the Mysterian pondered on about this situation, several famous F-Zero racers entered the room, in preparation for the race. Some friendly faces such as Dr. Stewart came in, but then there were some non-friendly racers such as Bio Rex and Baba. There were some unfamiliar faces as well, fellow non-licensed F-Zero pilots.

 _This could be bad…_ Some of the racers spotted her machine; many of the racers appeared surprised by the bland looking machine. Dr. Stewart was amongst the group of racers looking at her machine, the young dark-skinned racer with leopard clothing and a visor stepped in front of the _Purring Kitten_ , he was known as Baba.

“Nah, nah, hold on a mo'!” Stewart looked at Baba as he approached Chiya's machine, “What the Hell is _this_?”

Stewart chimed in, “Looks like a new F-Zero machine; unfinished, of course.”

Baba turned back toward the _Purring Kitten_ before entering a state of laughter, “No paint, no headlights; this thing's a piece of junk!” The man swished his hand at the machine and approached his own machine—the _Iron Tiger_.

Chiya raised her head up from behind the dashboard. The Mysterian was too shy to confront such professional racers in person. A relieved exhale was made at the sight of everyone leaving for their machines; nonetheless, Chiya felt hurt by Baba's provocative comment about her machine.

She closed her eyes and exhaled again, then stretched her arms in preparation for the race of her life. The thought of so many people watching her race was making her even more nervous. She had no actual experience in racing and her machine lacked quality—two big factors in a plausible humiliation. Moments into thinking, she opened her eyes and spotted a headset that was attached to the dashboard, it was flashing a bright blue light.

“Huh?” The headset was brought up to her head, “Is someone there?”

“What's up?”

Chiya recognized the voice as Earl's, she didn't bother question what he was doing on the headset.

“Is Seppuku going to run me through this?” she asked in a frantic voice.

“N—not quite…” Earl was standing in the private F-Zero booth gazing out toward the empty starting line, “Seppuku wants me to be your road guide, instead.”

Chiya sat back with wide eyes. _What's the engineer going to know about racing..?_ While she did prefer Earl's presence over Seppuku's, having an F-Zero racer guide her was more desirable. She was at least finding comfort in the idea of having someone to talk to.

“Tell me, Earl; do you think all those fans out there are going to laugh at me for having a shoddy machine?”

The Korean tilted his head and scanned the area, “Actually, there's only about one or two hundred people here.”

“Huh? But-”

“This is a bet race, not the Grand Prix. This is the place non-licensed F-Zero pilots go; and of course, a few professional racers looking to make some quick credits. My point is that fans have little interest in these small time races.”

In response, Chiya checked her surroundings and hummed. Indeed, there were some professional F-Zero machines around, most notably Dr. Stewart in terms of fame. There were a lot more unknown F-Zero machines, however; some interesting looking, some obvious ripoffs of already existing F-Zero machines. In contrast to all the unknown machines, Chiya's ranked somewhere in the middle, as far as style goes.

“What do I do right now?” asked Chiya.

“The announcer will call you in. Just do what the other racers do until the race starts.”

Chiya breathed in and exhaled before getting a tight grasp of her steering wheel.

“Got it.”

“One key thing you _must_ stay aware of is your energy meter. This will be your first time racing with boosters _and_ restoration pads, so be smart with your energy. Don't let it run out like Seppuku did last race or you'll get the exact same fate.”

“You mean 2nd place?” she joked.

Earl smirked to himself, “I'm serious. Both Seppuku and Blood Falcon are lucky they didn't explode as a result of that crazy finish.”

“Fine, anything else?”

Earl smacked his fist, “Most importantly, don't let Seppuku's little side wager distract you. This is your first race and you might just win this if you keep a clear mind. Don't push yourself too hard, everyone has limits.”

“Alright, alright, I'm good…”

“Excellent, keep your headset on, I'll only speak when necessary.”

“Yes, coach,” she responded with motivation.

The man grinned and walked to the couch in preparation for the race, he would need to watch her on screen since he could not see her full-time from the booth's window. It was rare for an F-Zero legend like Captain Falcon to show up at a bet race; this was to Chiya's luck, as she had little experience in competitive racing.

The track speakers came on and sent an instant shock to Chiya's spine, “At this time all contestants may approach the starting line.”

Chiya gritted her teeth, within seconds all F-Zero machines began to move out towards a door that would lead them out onto the track. There were a total of nine racers; eight racers Chiya would need to work around. The _Purring Kitten_ snuck in behind the _Golden Fox_ as they pulled out of the garage and onto the track; the starting line was a short distance ahead.

“Earl, I'm really scared…” the girl admitted.

“It's alright to be scared; being scared equals cautious behavior—and I'd rather you be cautious than... well... like, Seppuku. Just trust your instincts on this race, it doesn't have to be dangerous unless you choose to make it that way.”

Chiya sighed while nodding in agreement as they began driving towards the startling line. The one thing that she could feel good about was that there was no combat allowed, all she had to worry about was staying ahead of the other racers. All nine racers set up in two rows with Chiya in the back. Her view was blocked by an unknown machine with a terrible red paint job. Chiya was trying her best to remain calm, but was then starting to panic at the thought of putting Seppuku's money to waste by coming in last place. Finishing in last would deal a critical blow to her chances of becoming a licensed F-Zero racer.

“Alright, get ready…” warned Earl.

The young Flower looked up and found the screen was displaying the number '3' as it prepared to count down. Her eyes quivered in fright, her time to shine had come at long last. Putting aside her greatest fears, Chiya forced herself to think about only one thing: F-Zero.

Three. Two. One. Go!

The race started and everyone drove past the starting line; Chiya succeeded in being the very first to hit the accelerator—thus giving her the benefit of a faster takeoff.

Earl sent his fist forward with a grin, “Good work. Now you just have to keep a consistent speed and show these guys how to race!”

Chiya continued down the track behind the other racers; Stewart held the lead and was being followed by Baba. Unsurprisingly, it was the licensed F-Zero racers who led the pack. Chiya was focusing on passing the poorly painted red machine ahead of her, as this large machine was an obstacle in her path. This machine was managing to keep Chiya from making any progress by blocking her path whenever she tried passing him. This was an obvious frustration, but she found no alternative way around him without boosters being authorized. To make matters worse, a fellow unpainted machine soon met up with Chiya and got by her side; this disallowed her any possible opportunities of passing the red machine.

Chiya gasped in disgust at the lack of sportsmanship, she was being bullied on the track. “This isn't fair!”

“Just keep trying, they won't stay at you forever. They want to win this race just as much as you do.”

Chiya nodded to herself in agreement, becoming angry over this would only give her fatigue and break her morale. Up ahead was a glowing blue device on the track, this was the pad that would propel racers into the air. If used right, one could bring themselves far ahead of the track and skip a major turn; the procedure for taking this shortcut would be to initiate the airbrakes in midair and glide across the track.

The Mysterian narrowed her eyes at the two unlicensed racers, still offended by their choice to team on her. She found herself putting her hand on the speed leveler with the desire to push her machine up to maximum speed—and she did. Chiya made a sharp dash to the right and hit the launch pad. The _Purring Kitten_ was the only machine in the race that went airborne; the rest of the racers would not risk the jump without boost power.

In response, Earl jumped off of the couch and gritted his teeth, “Ch- Chiya!”

For a moment, Chiya felt her life fade away; every sound and color around her disappeared aside from the intended landing spot. Her focus was so high that she didn't respond to Earl's panicked shout for her safety, it was up to physics and control to decide her fate at this point. She switched on her airbrakes and took a smooth shot towards the track. Chiya gritted her teeth in complete fear of whether she would land on or miss the track. Miraculously, she landed back on the track and assumed the lead.

Everyone, including the professional racers, looked at the _Purring Kitten_ in amazement; for Chiya was the only one brave enough to try such a jump without boost power. Boosting at 1,000+ km/h into a jump pad would give the force needed to ensure a safe return to the track; Chiya did so without it. Thoughts about Chiya's decision could have ranged anywhere from lucky to foolish.

“I did it!” Chiya announced with a smile.

Continuing to tremble, Earl soon collapsed onto the couch like a ragdoll. “Th- That's great. Excellent job…” He rubbed his eyes while trying to regain control of himself. “Like I said, don't push yourself too hard. You may have somehow pulled that jump off, but you're still no Captain Falcon.”

“Aye.”

The move she took was both risky and foolish; but the stunt proved its purpose. Not only was Chiya in the lead, but a large spike of morale had come out of it. Baba was looking at the _Purring Kitten_ in complete shock; Stewart looked at her with a feeling of being challenged. The first assumption everyone who saw Chiya had was that she wasn't afraid to take risks—regardless of the danger they may pose.

 

 

 

From within the bar, Seppuku chuckled at the television, “See that?” Silver Neelsen crossed his arms in surprise at the risk she had taken. “She won't let all of those racers by; maybe one or two, but she has a talent at this and won't fall behind again.”

Neelsen hummed, “I would agree she's got talent.”

Beastman countered this with, “I would say she's cocky.”

 

 

 

Chiya looked behind her and could see the _Golden Fox_ gaining speed; she now had time to study the machines of her opponents. The girl started off with the _Golden Fox—_ Stewart's machine. _That machine's body is so terrible, it barely looks like it could round corners. Yet he's one of the best in F-Zero, so he must have tactics…_ From what she could gather, Stewart had a weak machine that would have problems rounding corners. She then looked at the _Iron Tiger_ , the machine looked much more menacing than the _Golden Fox_. _That thing could pack a strong punch, and its body is perfect for turning…_

“Earl, I think Baba might be the largest threat here.” Earl studied the _Iron Tiger_ , which was still in 3rd place, “Its body is of a good build and can probably make most turns at maximum speed; I don't know about the boosters, though.”

Earl let out a chuckle, “Good observation, but…” he then looked at the _Iron Tiger_ in complete shock, “Oh, wait; you're spot on…”

Chiya took the compliment without reaction; she could see the unpainted machine that had been giving her a struggle making its way up the track. The amount of racers she had to study was beginning to overwhelm her; this was a skill she possessed that not many racers had. She had the natural skill of identifying weak and strong points on the spot.

To aid her in evaluating, Earl added, “The Iron Tiger seems to have dual-boosters, but I would bet anything that they don't do him any good on the account of its heavy body.” Chiya looked back at the _Iron Tiger_ , which was now tied for 2nd place with the _Golden Fox._ “I'm positive that the boosters compensate for his machine's heavy weight; so if you do the math, his A-class boosters are probably more like C or D.”

“Good information, I think I can use that to my advantage.”

“Just get ready, you're about to enter your second lap.”

“Wha- Oh my God, really?”

Chiya centered her attention back on the track; she hadn't realized how very close she was to the checkpoint. She looked back hoping to find the weakness of the unpainted machine before they would all acquire boost power. _That guy has a powerful body; the rounded body likely helps him slide off the safety railing…_ Chiya could only get so much information about the machine before passing the checkpoint.

Earl stood up and barked, “Boost power has been authorized. Capitalize!”

Chiya seized the opportunity and boosted away from the group, the _Iron Tiger_ also boosted. As predicted, Baba's boosters did not deliver him very far up the track.

Next, Earl warned, “Now watch your energy level often since you're exerting boost power, there's two restoration pads on this track. And please don't attempt that jump again, I almost fell over when I saw you do that…”

“We'll see about that.”

The _King Meteor_ , driven by Super Arrow; boosted ahead of Chiya and seized 1st. The Mysterian countered the move by boosting again; this brought her back into 1st, but the _Golden Fox_ would be coming up on her in a moment. Chiya moaned in frustration as her energy level was already close to the yellow—half depleted. _How do you keep the lead with such little energy..?_ The _Golden Fox_ was passed by a desperate _Iron Tiger_ , Baba was no villainous person, but there was no doubting that he held a specific grudge against Chiya for the time being.

Up ahead was a long glowing stretch of metal across the side of the track, this was the first restoration pad. Just on time, for Chiya was in need of energy but still in the lead. Chiya drove over the restoration pad, everyone did so behind her. Super Arrow disregarded the pad and boosted past it to assume the lead once again. Chiya followed Super Arrow and soon boosted towards him.

Again, Chiya spotted the jump pad. Though Earl didn't want her to, there was a belief that she could pull the dangerous stunt off again; with boost power this would be much easier. And so she began driving toward the pad, with one press of a button she went boosting at maximum speed toward the pad. Chiya had a pumped heart and an adrenaline rush while in the air. She boosted once more in midair, thus sending her through the air like a rocket. The airbrakes were initiated for a safe landing. She landed far ahead of the _King Meteor_ , but was surprised to find that the _Golden Fox_ and _Iron Tiger_ had landed behind her, they also made the jump.

With the jump now over, Chiya exhaled in relief and explained, “See? If I hadn't attempted that I would've been two or even three racers behind.”

She continued to drive while awaiting a response from her coach, but felt as though she were being ignored. The _Golden Fox_ carefully sped up trying to catch the _Purring Kitten_ , Chiya was doing an excellent job holding her position throughout the race.

Finally, a chuckle was made from Earl, “Hey, girl. You must have just come from Sand Ocean, because you're the hottest looking person I've seen all day...”

Chiya widened her eyes with dropped eyebrows, she couldn't stop her face from gushing up, “Wha- What..?” The comment from Earl was abrupt and unexpected, beyond corny to say the least.

“Hey, come on, don't walk away. Where are you going?”

Chiya changed her expression to a displeased one, realizing what was going on.

Earl continued to stare at a black-haired woman who had been seated beside the private booth. She was walking away from him. Earl shook his head negatively and looked back onto the track; he missed the part where Chiya had jumped for the second time.

“Sorry, what now?” asked Earl.

“I can't believe you didn't win her over with that line...” she spoke sarcastically.

Earl cleared his throat and looked at her progress; she was still being chased by Stewart and Baba, with Super Arrow not far behind. The red-painted machine had retreated from the race, as it had no boosters installed and therefore useless. The other unlicensed racers were far behind. This had become more so of a race between four.

“You seem to know what you're doing, just keep a foothold on this race like you are now and the prize money is ours.”

Chiya boosted forward again after seeing the _Iron Tiger_ boost past the _King Meteor_ ; the constant boosting was what made F-Zero such a difficult sport. She looked back at the _Golden Fox_ as it neared her rear, she panicked and dashed to the side to let him pass. Chiya looked at the rear of his machine and realized that the _Golden Fox_ had a very advanced booster.

Both machines boosted and came to another restoration pad, she was now being chased by the _Iron Tiger_. Chiya boosted through the restoration pad, thus bringing her back into 1 st place, but both Baba and Stewart were staying on her. Everyone was coming up on their final lap with the checkpoint just ahead, she would have to hit the jump pad one more time if she were to win.

 

 

 

Seppuku was sitting with a look of little surprise, as if he knew that the race would be Chiya's for the taking. Beastman and Neelsen appeared nervous at the fact that they could lose their bets because of a girl who was not even a licensed F-Zero racer. Seppuku was pleased at the risks Chiya was taking to win the race, unlike Earl, who condemned her risking her life for a simple bet race.

Beastman snickered, “I'll admit, Seppuku; you've trained a winner.”

Seppuku shook his head, “I didn't train her, she's a natural born racer.”

“No way, you must have known that she could race before you put her in your little gang. She's giving Stewart a run for his money, that's unbelievably humiliating considering she's not a true racer.”

Seppuku returned an intense stare, choosing not to respond to the accusation.

 

 

The racers entered their final lap. Chiya had shown great potential and talent up to this point, she now needed to push it to the end without fouling up; she would begin her final lap by trying to pass Stewart. She was in somewhat of a predicament; the _Golden Fox_ had a better booster than the _Purring Kitten_ , being of better quality and able to hold more energy. She assumed that she could get past him if she took more of a risk in boosting; however, this would bring her energy level into the orange-red area. As long as she didn't boost after that, she would be fine.

Chiya kicked herself into action by boost toward the side of the _Golden Fox_ , Stewart retaliated by boosting as well, but Chiya was a little more determined and boosted three times in a row. Stewart and Chiya appeared to be the two that would rival against each other in the end—not Baba, though he was not far behind the two. Stewart boosted one more time, thus bringing himself close behind Chiya. He did not plan on using the energy he still had to pass her; he had another trick to play.

“Earl, I don't know if I can shake this guy…”

“I imagine he'll boost past you once you near the restoration pad, try and boost from there to the jump pad.”

Before Chiya could take action, the _Iron Tiger_ momentarily boosted up behind her; thus adding on to the pressure. She was being followed by both Stewart and Baba from an unsafe distance. _Shoot…_ The restoration pad was only a bit away, it was clear that nothing would happen until they reached it. Chiya was in heavy agreement with Earl that Stewart would seize the opportunity to pass her after the restoration pad.

 _I won't lose! Everything rests within my hands; destiny will secure the win for me..!_ She boosted the first moment her machine touched the restoration pad, because of this she didn't fully recharge her energy. As expected, Stewart did the exact same thing; he was intrigued by Chiya's decision to do alike. He needn't doubt that Chiya was strategizing against him in particular.

Chiya looked at the jump pad with a grin, she was going to try and land farther this time to secure the win. She looked at the pad with fury and boosted into it again, this time Earl was witnessing her attempt at the jump, he watched in fearful silence.

The _Purring Kitten_ glided while Chiya stared at the exact spot she planned on landing at. Looking back, the Mysterian was startled to find the _Golden Fox_ and _Iron Tiger_ following her in the air from behind. Her focus was set on the two machines for a moment and proved to be a drastic mistake, for she had forgotten to do something very important. Chiya redirected her attention onto the track and gasped, she had forgotten to initiate her airbrakes, thus sending her towards the track like a meteorite. Chiya's life began to flash before her eyes, but she was quick to turn on the airbrakes with what time she still had.

Earl gasped, knowing that Chiya was about to either die or become severely injured. The _Purring Kitten_ hit the track and bounced with many ensuing sparks. The girl was lucky and made a rough landing that merely knocked her person forward; nonetheless she continued to drive. The landing brought about a drastic reduction of speed.

After realizing that Chiya was unharmed, Earl proceeded to lecture, “You have to be careful, Chiya!”

Chiya held her broken hand in pain, for she had hit it on the roof after landing, “I know, I know. I'm sorry!”

Chiya was still determined to win the race despite her terrible landing, but both the _Golden Fox_ and _Iron Tiger_ passed her. Stewart boosted away from Baba and assumed the lead. The Mysterian shook her head in disbelief, then boosted one time to bring herself up to the _Iron Tiger_ , but since she hadn't restored her energy to a full tank, she was already near the red zone of her meter. The three racers got closer to the last restoration area. _King Meteor_ was now approaching her from behind because of her failed jump.

Chiya could feel her morale shattering, now understanding that Stewart was the likeliest candidate to win the race. Chiya still had hopes of winning; however, her final chance would be if she could get to the restoration pad and somehow pass the _Golden Fox_ with all of the energy she could muster.

She managed to make a good comeback and was almost tied with the _Iron Tiger_ , but Stewart was still leading the pack with ease. Chiya glanced over at Baba's cockpit, the man was now visible to her inside. He returned a stare and appeared intrigued by the pilot of the _Purring Kitten_ , as he had presumed Chiya to be a muscular man of some sort. Chiya was distracted on Baba and had not realized that she was driving over the restoration pad; her energy was now full. Chiya widened her eyes and boosted toward the _Golden Fox_ , who was also boosting.

The finish line was in sight and Chiya was still in trouble. She was now bidding on a miracle that may allow her to pass Stewart and grasp victory. She was surprised to find that Stewart had stopped boosting, as he had boosted through the restoration pad and failed to gather full energy. This simple mistake was just the miracle she was hoping for. Luck was not on her side, however, as the _Iron Tiger_ boosted beside the _Purring Kitten_ and pushed into it. Chiya was essentially being rammed by Baba, not allowing her to secure the victory. After pushing Chiya aside, Baba passed her and proceeded into 2 nd.

“Wh- What the Hell! That's not fair!”

Earl sighed, realizing that it was over, “Unfortunately, pushing is not categorized as _combat_ …”

Chiya was beyond crushed as the three finished the race. She managed to finish in 3rd place, while Stewart had stolen the race by a small time difference. Baba appeared content taking 2nd for means of pride. Chiya was left with a dropped jaw and left feeling destroyed by her defeat.

 

 

Chiya soon parked her machine back inside the garage moments after finishing the race, she dipped her head down in shame and with a frown. Her feelings were crushed knowing that she had let everyone down—including herself. She was so certain that she would make Seppuku and Earl proud; not only this, but securing 1st place would have greatly improved her chances of being allowed into the Grand Prix, if not ensure this. The F-Zero committee would need to determine whether Chiya is a racer they would want on the track; defeating licensed F-Zero racers on the track would have been perfect.

“I failed…” she muttered to Earl.

Earl was now standing in the front of the booth, he was looking out toward the track with the race now over. “No you didn't, Chiya…” Chiya rolled her eyes, refusing to accept his charity. “You took 3rd place; your first race and you took 3rd.”

Chiya raised her head up while watching the other racers get out of their machines, “But Seppuku-”

“To Hell with Seppuku. That was his own fault for spending money on a new racer. That race would have been yours if you just didn't make that simple mistake. But do understand, that's just one of many mistakes you'd make even as an F-Zero racer. Hell, you'd still make mistakes if you were as good as Captain Falcon. That's just how the game works.” Chiya rubbed her chin while thinking over his points, Earl grinned to himself and concluded, “If Seppuku is mad, that's his problem. But there will be other races and you'll win some of them, no doubt.”

Chiya smiled and put her hand on the ignition, “You're right, Earl. I'll see you back at the bar, then…” She turned off her machine and nodded in pride.

After ensuring that everything was turned off, Chiya leapt out of the cockpit and slid down the body onto the ground. A smile was still visible on her face, but disappeared as Baba, Stewart, and Super Arrow stood before her. She gritted her teeth in fear, frightened by the possibility that she could be harassed or mocked by the professionals. Baba looked at her and began to laugh, finally getting to meet Chiya in person.

“Is this a joke? This little girl got 3rd place?”

Chiya narrowed her brows, “I'm twenty-three and an avid driver…”

Dr. Stewart grinned, “Hey, it's Chiya Flower of all people. I'm at a loss...” Chiya looked at Stewart with glee, having forgotten that he was in all actuality an ally who helped fight off Goroh's pirates. “You're Lieutenant Seppuku's accomplice _and_ a racer in training?”

Chiya crossed her arms and grinned, “I am Chiya Flower; future F-Zero competitor.”

Stewart gave her a slight bow, “Not bad; in fact, that was beyond impressive. You had both Baba and I sweating all race.”

Baba smirked at the doctor, “S- Speak for yourself! I was as cool as the surface of White Land!”

Super Arrow had already left with nothing to say. He was only interested in seeing the person who beat her. Though Chiya hadn't beaten _all_ of the F-Zero pilots, she did in fact defeat one—Super Arrow.

Chiya smiled after now coming back to terms with the idea that Dr. Stewart was more of a friend than an ally, Baba was only a jerk—not a criminal. Chiya was trying her best to appear strong and unbreakable in the presence of the two. She did so with success, both men were convinced that Chiya was an avid racer to be feared.

The girl puckered her lips and shrugged, “Well, I'll see you guys on the track next Prix, then.”

Stewart and Baba both appeared startled by her challenge. Stewart was intrigued by her expectation to race in the big league so early on, though he did not shoot down the concept.

“How about a non-aggression pact between us when that day comes?” Stewart proposed.

“A non-aggression pact? What's that?”

“F-Zero terminology. I'm not offering an _alliance—_ in which we'd offer mutual aid and protection on the track. I'm merely offering a pact of non-aggression, a sacred F-Zero oath that forbids us from fighting each other. It is considered tyrannical to attack a racer of whom you have a non-aggression pact with.”

Chiya beamed and nodded, “Sure!”

Moments later, Baba rubbed the back of his head with gritted teeth, “Uh... how about one with me, too…” he requested in silence. As soon as Chiya turned to face the man, he added in a loud tone, “But not because I fear you; it's just that I'm a busy person and can't waste time on you if you go evil on me, you know?”

Chiya was surprised that she already had two racers wanting nothing to do with her on the track. Whether it be out of respect or fear, she smiled with determination.

“For sure!”

 

 

 

Seppuku and Earl sat in the bar with Neelsen and Beastman while waiting for Chiya to arrive. Seppuku and Earl were arguing with each other over Chiya's performance on the track.

The Man of Darkness struck his fist down, “She was probably playing with her hair while in the air. She was clearly distracted!”

Earl answered, “That was a lot of pressure for a newcomer; you can't lecture her about one common mistake…”

“She did the first two jumps perfectly, why not the third one?” He shook his head and added, “The first jump she completed without boosting; how the Hell-”

It was at that moment Chiya reentered the bar, though she lacked the gloomy look everyone had envisioned. In fact, she seemed happier than could be by the results. She was happy, but this didn't affect Seppuku's view on the moment one bit. He delved straight into arguing.

“Flower! How could you make such a brainless mistake?”

Earl intercepted his question with a glare, “Shut up, man! You've fouled up so many times in the Grand Prix I've lost count!”

“Shut your mouth, Bendek; or I'll tear your lips straight off your face.”

Chiya approached the table and pointed at Seppuku, “I'll win next time.”

Seppuku shook his head with barred teeth, “From what I saw today, you don't-”

“I'll _win_ next time,” she reinstated.

Seppuku gritted his teeth as he had been knocked back by Chiya's determination to win, he nodded at her, “Fine.”

“And regardless, I beat _one_ F-Zero racer, right?”

Earl nodded, “She's right. Had she taken in more energy at the pad, she might have beaten them all.”

Neelsen smiled at Chiya as he was also impressed with her driving, “You did a good job today, kid. I look forward to racing you…”

Chiya turned back towards Seppuku and Earl, now happy with the accomplishment she had made today. It may have not been 1st place, but she still proved that she could win against F-Zero racers. They had a long way to go before the Grand Prix would start, but by the way things were looking at the moment she would make it in time for the next annual Grand Prix. But alas, the original deal remained between Chiya and Seppuku first established when she signed up for his organization. Until the gang war of the Lower City ended, Seppuku was unwilling to fetch the F-Zero committee to evaluate her. Until Seppuku would recommend her to them, she had no chance at all of getting a license.

The gang war had to end...


	32. Lap 32

==Lap 33=

 

Two days had passed since Chiya's bet race; she had taken 3rd place. After the race Chiya had to choose: Would she accept Earl's ' _You did pretty well for your first time'_ , or Seppuku's ' _Not good enough, you should be ashamed_.' She picked Earl's more comforting comment, to no one's surprise; deciding to feel good about her accomplishment. Seppuku later that day gave in and agreed with the two that it was a good race and that it should have been Chiya's for the taking.

With days passed by, Seppuku has announced the foundation of a new plan on how to end the gang war in _one strike_. He was busy constructing the plan at the moment, however, and thus gave Chiya and Earl more leisure time. While Earl decided to use his day off to work on the _Red Dove_ and _Purring Kitten_ , Chiya decided to take a stroll down memory lane and go somewhere she hadn't been to in a long time…

 

 

 

Chiya stood in the now closed and much damaged _Rough Odds_. At this point, the bar was nothing but another abandoned establishment; this was a common sight in the Lower City. Rough Odds was where the big journey began for the lone Mysterian; it was both where she met Earl and where her career began with Seppuku.

She looked down in horror at the debris scattered over the ground; the police had let the case go and defined it as gang violence rather than terrorism _._ The room was as it was before, even the table she was hiding behind was still tipped over as she had left it; the only thing missing were the shells left from Chiya and Michael Chain's guns.

Chiya continued to look around the room as images of the fateful day flooded into her mind: Seppuku getting shot, her first encounter with the Bloody Chain, driving the _Red Dove_ , and Captain Falcon saving her. All of those events only represented mere minutes of that day; what followed those brief events would change her life.

Next she walked over to the counter and sat on her usual chair. Doing this brought back both good and bad memories; she would always sit here during the time she was a bum on the streets, but it was also the place she first met Earl when he had given her a ticket to the first Grand Prix race. On this last note, Chiya looked up with lowered brows as a thought crossed her mind.

“Did Earl know who I was?” she asked aloud.

That day, Earl had come asking for her to go to the first Grand Prix race with him ~~—~~ a date. At the time she had no idea who he worked for, he left her that evening when his boss called; who she now knows was in all actuality Lieutenant Seppuku. The question she now had was why he asked her out over all of the other girls. The previous night was the first time she encountered Seppuku, meaning it was very possible that Seppuku could have sent Earl to spy on her the following day. Chiya was zoned out thinking about the many things of her past, which brought her to another thought.

“Earl must have been at that race, too...”

She now had to wonder why Earl would have tickets in the first place if he could have gotten in for free with Seppuku. Chiya could trust Earl at this point, she had no plan of ever restarting such a feud with him like on Aeropolis. _He's such a perfect man; so honorable and nice… …but perhaps, too nice…_ She rubbed her forehead as she further pondered about Earl's role in the operation. _Maybe he isn't as he seems; maybe he's just acting warm towards me so I'll tell him all of my secrets, for Seppuku…_ Chiya slapped her forehead, trying to keep herself from looking at Earl in a bad light.

“No, he's a friend and I really like him.”

Fair frustration was building within the girl's mind; something seemed wrong about Rough Odds. It was as if the bar were corrupting her mind with flashbacks and theories, but nothing positive. She shook her head and took leave, desiring to escape from the bar. No matter what, she knew that Earl was a true friend; she was positive that he wasn't some kind of spy. Earl had listed all of the things he did for her when he was wrapping her hand up on Aeropolis, this proved that his loyalty to their friendship was solid. Seppuku on the other hand was a mystery; his true intentions for Chiya were still to be determined. To this day she was still positive that Seppuku had other plans for her that neither she nor Earl knew of.

The young Flower stepped out of the bar and continued toward a sidewalk. She had one more place to go before returning home.

 

 

 

Chiya later confronted an old abandoned building; her old home, which looked just as she had left it. As she walked into the building, several flashback images flew into her mind. This was back when she had no shower, bedroom, kitchen, heating devices, or other everyday needs. Though this was not a place of happy times for her, it was her first home that she had away from Mysteria, so she still had some fond memories of the place. She looked down at the mattress she used to sleep on, now realizing how lucky she was not to have been mugged in the middle of the night. The mattress was in plain sight, meaning anyone could have walked into the building and spotted her.

Walking in further Chiya took note of many small things pertaining to her old life; the broken mirror, sink, shower, many things she once lived with. Amongst these things, she gasped upon spotting something on the floor, it was one of her shirts; very similar to what she always wore. This wasn't any ordinary shirt of hers, however; this one was torn all the way down the torso; it was the shirt she had worn during the night she was attacked by sex offenders. She contemplated whether to take the shirt back with her, but decided that it was nothing to be proud of or worth saving.

Closer observation of the shirt revealed something surprising—it appeared to be wet. She had immediate intrigue as to why a shirt that has been lying on the ground for so long would be wet. Thus, she put two fingers down on the wet spot and proceeded to sniff. Her eyes widened in appallment at the scent.

“Urine?”

She wiped her fingers in disgust, wondering why there was urine on her torn shirt. Considering it was still wet meant that it had to have been fairly recent. Chiya was staring at the moist shirt with a disturbed face, she suspected that rats now lived within the abandoned building. At that moment, her face lit up in shock; something fuzzy was rubbing against her elbow…

“Stop it!” Chiya rolled away with her handgun already equipped. Within moments, she lowered the gun and widened her eyes; there was a somewhat aged gray kitten standing still looking at her. Chiya couldn't resist puckering her lips. “Aw—w..!”

The Mysterian dropped to her knees and crawled closer to the feline, wondering if it had any diseases. A gray chubby kitten, about seven months of age. Still, Chiya gritted her teeth in fear of whether the cat was dangerous or not, but took a shot in the dirt and reached out for it. She gave the cat a pat on the head, it appeared to be fearless towards her and was showing no resistance to her handling. Chiya's face began to glow in excitement, she fell in love with the small cat on the spot. The cat further approached her, as being afraid of humans appeared to be the last thing on its mind. Finally, Chiya wrapped her arms around the cat and fell down onto the mattress.

“Well, I guess you moved in when I moved out!” Chiya said with glee.

Something that caught Chiya's attention was that the young cat was chubby, meaning it was getting food from somewhere. Chiya soon stood back up feeling sad that she had to leave her small furry friend.

“I- I really must get going…” The cat stood on all four paws and was staring at her from the mattress, Chiya smiled at the cat and waved, “Alright, bye!”

Chiya took her leave and was about to leave the structure, she had now seen the bar and her old home; now she was eager to return home and see Earl. Just as she had left the building, the woman was forced to a stop as the cat ran out the building and got in her way.

“Whoa…” The cat rolled on its side in front of Chiya, showing that it wanted something from her. She tapped a finger over her chin while thinking what it might want. “Sorry, I don't have a snack for you, little kitty...”

Chiya rubbed the cat's belly and continued walking; but to little surprise, the cat continued following her. The Mysterian sighed and dropped her arms as she started to feel bad for the cat, “You must understand, Seppuku would never allow me to bring a kitty home…”

Chiya was falling victim to the young cat's eyes, the cuteness was getting to her which made the decision to leave it behind much harder. What she said was true, however; Seppuku would never condone any kind of animal entering the base. Chiya bit her lip while looking down at the attention-starved animal; she looked down at it with a frown as she started to put the puzzle pieces together.

“Blimey, your mom must have let you go, and now you're all alone…” She held up the cat, which showed little intention of escaping her grasp. The Mysterian smiled at it again, “In a way, you and I aren't too different…”

 

 

 

Chiya later reentered the base with the cat hidden under her arm, she was hoping to get it back to her room unseen. She scanned the lobby for Earl and Seppuku and saw no one; it would be a straight shot to her room. She opened the door leading to the hallway and gave the door to her room an intense gaze. Slow steps down the hallway were taken, the cat was now being held behind her back in case someone approached her from the front. _Almost there…_ As soon as she prepared to turn to face her door, Earl came out of his bedroom, which was across from hers.

“Hey, Chiya. Seppuku wants to see us right away.”

Chiya widened her eyes and faced him, desperate to keep the cat tucked behind her back, “Can it wait a moment?”

Earl gave her a blank stare, the Mysterian remained still sweating bullets. Earl sighed while looking at the door to Seppuku's office, “It won't take long. Let's just see what he wants.”

Chiya was looking back at her door in constant motions, but didn't see a moment where she could drop the cat inside.

“Alright, let's go…” she muttered.

Chiya and Earl began walking towards his office; Chiya was staying behind Earl so that he couldn't see the cat in her hands. She looked at the back of his head wondering if she should have just told him the truth, she knew Earl to be an honorable and trusting sort; much more understanding than Seppuku. Earl opened the office door for her and bowed like a gentleman. Chiya widened her eyes at his generosity. _If I go first, he'll see the cat..!_ Chiya fake laughed at him, then grabbed the door with her broken hand while holding the cat carefully with the other.

“How about I be the polite one this time?” Chiya proposed in a nervous tone.

Earl smirked, “Ladies first…”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows with a shaking smile, “War veterans before ladies…”

“Ladies with broken hands before-”

Seppuku slammed his fists down on his desk, “Just shut up and get in here!”

Earl bolted into the room, leaving Chiya to enter last ~~—~~ she won that round. Chiya stood close to the door and put both her hands behind her back. Though Chiya was for the most part centered on the cat, she was also interested to see Seppuku with a rare look of optimism.

“You two will be glad to know that I came up with an idea that could end this war very fast. I'm surprised I didn't think of it earlier.”

Earl crossed his arms, “Oh?”

The two waited for a rundown of the plan; Chiya _would_ be excited by this announcement, but she had to make sure that she didn't compromise the cat, therefore was distracted. Seppuku was taking his time to reveal the plan, as he was getting into a comfortable position. Chiya glared and barred her teeth.

“Get on with it!” she demanded.

Earl grunted and glanced at her, but Seppuku chuckled, “I'm liking the attitude…” He stood back up and put his hands together, “The solution was in front of us all along, and thanks to Chiya's purchase of my rifle's silencer we can initiate this plan at any time.”

The cat was finally beginning to struggle, wanting some freedom from Chiya's arms. The cat allowed her to hold it the entire trip home without resistance, but now had enough. Chiya was trying to hold it steady, but would only be able to hold it without being scratched for so long.

“If we can lure a gang leader out onto the open streets, I can simply use my weapon's incredible range and power to take him out—an assassination!”

Earl held his chin and hummed, “How will you lure one of these leaders?”

“That is yet to be determined. I was thinking I could use Chiya as bait; I don't mean to put her in the stereotypical female damsel role, but let's be honest, she's got a knack for getting captured. How about it, Flower?”

Chiya was losing grasp of the cat, who was now trying to climb her back, “Yeah, yeah, that's great…” she answered.

Earl grunted at her answer, “Huh?”

Seppuku grinned, “I like your dedication, Flower. You'll be racing in no time if you play your part as written.”

Chiya suddenly screamed in agony, thus causing both men to grit their teeth. The cat lunged its claws into her back in an attempt to climb her, “Bloody Hell! You wanker!”

She then looked around the room with widened eyes. Earl was staring at her in great fright; Seppuku appeared very confused by her scream. She was looking very unusual screaming for no reason, and of course throwing slurs out.

Earl shoved her shoulder, “What's wrong!?”

Chiya gritted her teeth as she was trying to hold in the incredible pain the cat was giving her back, “I- I just- oh God..!” She began to tremble, wanting to scream again as the cat continued to dig its claws into her skin, “I'm going to vomit! Yeah, vomit. I need a restroom!” she yelled while biting her lip in pain.

The Korean grabbed her shoulder and asked, “Do you need me to escort you?”

“No! I'm fine!” she went out the office and slammed the door behind her.

Earl and Seppuku were left staring at the door, both men expressing shock and confusion. After exchanging brief glances, Seppuku added, “She called you a wanker.”

Chiya yanked the cat off of her back in frustration and glared at it, “You're going to get me into a lot of trouble!” she complained to the cat. Typically, the cat did not appear to understand anything she was saying.

The Mysterian ran into her room and placed the cat down on the bed; her eyes were watering and wide open on the account of such pain. She felt bad for not listening to Seppuku's plan, but felt that being sick was a good reason to leave. The small cat looked around the room seeking adventure; this was a much more desired environment than on the streets. Soon, the cat began to observe the soft bed she had placed it on. Chiya smiled and forgave the young cat for making her look crazy in front of her friends.

“I need to give you a name,” Chiya dipped her head down and grunted, then looked away from the cat with a pressured face. She lifted the cat up and narrowed her eyes in disgust, “Please forgive me for this…”

She raised the cat up and proceeded to examine for a few seconds, then closed her eyes to nod, “O- Okay, you're a boy!” she answered with spinning eyes.

Next on her agenda was to come up with a unique name; she wanted something that not many people would name a cat. Moments into thinking she snapped her fingers and gave a big nod.

“ _Mauser_.” Chiya puckered her lips and smiled at her new friend, “I'll call you Mauser…”

And so Chiya got on her bed and began to play around with her new feline companion. Chiya would swat her hand at Mauser every few moments to have Mauser then intercept her swipes with his paw. She giggled and began to stroke his fur.

Meanwhile, Earl approached Chiya's bedroom door and cleared his throat. After such an obscure exit from the meeting, he wanted to ensure that she was alright. Before knocking, though, Earl found himself standing by her door with gritted teeth—as he could hear the girl speaking.

“Yeah, you like getting touched there, don't you?” Earl widened his eyes and grunted. This sentence was followed with some very suggestive sounding giggling. “I'm sorry, I just can't stop touching you!”

Earl grunted again and grasped his forehead. _Wha- Who is Chiya talking to..?_ Earl set aside this question and knocked on her door.

“Uh, Chi'; are you alright in there?”

Chiya jumped up in shock and stopped petting her cat; she then narrowed her eyes and turned toward the door, “Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just doing so—ome girl stuff...”

“Girl stuff?”

“A private activity.”

Earl widened his eyes with lowered brows, his face began to glow red, “Uh... oh... I see..?” The man turned and grasped his forehead, then walked across to his own bedroom. “...I don't know what to make of this... I'm very confused,” he admitted to himself.

Chiya spun around while playing with Mauser, who was trying to claw at her.

“I'll have to tell them eventually,” she muttered aloud. She gasped, now realizing a critical problem; she would need to get pet supplies. “I need to get you some things at the store, don't do anything stupid…”

The cat stared at her without motion. Chiya narrowed her eyes at him and grabbed her handgun off the table, “Be back soon...”

 

 

 

Many minutes later, Chiya walked down an isle of an Upper City supermarket looking for a cat's everyday needs. She looked at the prices in shock, now realizing how expensive this was going to be.

“Fifty credits for a bag of litter!?”

She sighed, but tossed the bag into her cart. Next she looked at a bag of hard food, which was not as expensive, but just as large. Chiya gritted her teeth in frustration; she knew that from the moment Mauser was brought home he would present her with problems.

In rage, Chiya clenched her fists and shook the large bag of food, “How am I supposed to get all of this back to my bedroom unseen!?” she asked aloud.

A passing child walked past her and blinked without emotion; he then faced her and made an obnoxious smile, “You're a crazy cat person!”

Chiya gasped and glared at the child, “That's not very nice! You could hurt someone's feelings that way!” The child ran away without apologizing. Chiya lowered her eyebrows in fury, “I'm not crazy…”

 

 

 

Chiya had a few minutes later checked out of the store and put everything in the _Purring Kitten_ , despite that it had little room for storage. Chiya rubbed her forehead with a feeling of pressure. _What was it that Seppuku had planned..?_ She was so distracted with Mauser clawing her back that she hadn't paid any attention to Seppuku's new plan on ending the gang war. She growled while trying to think back, but shrugged the topic off, assuming that he would give another rundown of the plan in the near future.

Chiya got inside of the _Purring Kitten_ , but was having difficulty closing the cockpit window. She face palmed and groaned. The cat litter was what kept the window from closing, so she would have to hold onto the litter as she drove. _This is bloody fantastic…_ It was bad enough that she could only steer with one hand because of her injury, but now she had a heavy bag on her lap while driving as well. She turned on the _Purring Kitten_ and drove away from the market en route to the base.

As always, people stared at her as she drove; they were fascinated with the unfinished F-Zero machine. _Just wait until it's painted..!_ Chiya had not seen the Bloody Chain or Red Star since she left for Aeropolis. The last time she confronted Michael Chain she had beaten him without a combat module and sent his machine straight into a wall. Chain had informed her that she was of interest to both his gang and Red Star—so she would make for excellent bait in Seppuku's plan. For now, Chiya had to remain vigilant; they were getting closer every day to ending the conflict, but were still a few days away from finalizing the attack. For the time being, Chiya's attention was on her new cat, Mauser.

 

 

 

 

Chiya later opened the hidden garage door and parked her machine inside, Earl didn't appear to be in the garage. She parked the machine and jumped out of the _Purring Kitten_ with the bag of litter, she would need to deliver everything one at a time to lessen the chances of getting caught. Chiya scanned the garage, then proceeded toward the door—she seemed to be in the clear. The girl opened the door and rushed into the lobby, but luck was not on her side, for she had charged straight into Earl and knocked him onto his back.

“Wh- What the Hell, Chiya!”

“I'm so sorry!” she yelled with her back turned.

Earl stood up, but it was no secret to him at this point that she was holding something, “What in the world are you holding that's so heavy?” Chiya swallowed with quivering eyes, she knew it was over for her. The frowning girl turned and revealed the bag of litter. Earl lowered his eyebrows at the bag in complete confusion. “I must have been way off when I contemplated what 'girl stuff' meant…”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows in confusion; Earl seemed to be missing why she had a bag of litter. It only took him a few more moments of thinking before he widened his eyes, then sighed while rubbing the back of his head.

“Personally, I prefer a dog…”

Chiya's frown became much larger now that she was uncovered, “You're going to make me get rid of Mauser, aren't you…” she asked with a pout.

“Mauser?” He couldn't bring himself to look into Chiya's sad eyes, he was knocked back by her emotions once again, “Uh, not me..! ...but Seppuku will...” Chiya's eyes began to water as she dropped the bag of litter onto the ground, Earl responded by shaking his hands, “No, no, no! Come on, don't cry! I'm just saying, hiding your fuzzy friend from him won't be easy…”

Chiya shook her head, fighting back the water in her eyes, “I never cry…” She picked the bag up and proceeded into the lobby.

 

 

Moments later, Chiya was laying on her bed with the young cat; the bag of litter was sitting to the side of her bed. She was petting Mauser with a smile, despite the trouble she was getting herself into by allowing the cat to stay in Seppuku's base.

“You have quite some claws for a cat of your age,” she said while rubbing her clawed back.

 _I should've disinfected my back…_ She looked over at the bookshelf near her bed and grabbed a mirror she had laying around.

“Let's see what the damage is.” She took off her shirt and positioned the mirror in an angle that displayed her back, there were four long cuts. “Wow, I hope I don't get a virus from this…”

At that moment, Earl entered the room while holding a bag of hard food and a litter box, “I saved you the trip-” He stopped and gawked after spotting an almost exposed Chiya.

Chiya let out a scream and threw her shirt back on. Both their faces began to turn red in embarrassment.

“Wanker! Ever heard of knocking!?”

“Okay, alright! At least you had a bra on.”

Chiya blew her bangs up into the air feeling that the moment had become awkward; Earl opened his eyes while still holding onto the two items. He looked down at Mauser, finding her new pet a good way to change the subject quickly.

“S- So this is your cat…”

Chiya brushed off the awkward moment and smiled, “Little Mauser…”

“He doesn't look like he means trouble-” Earl then lowered his eyebrows, having remembered something, “What was up with you in Seppuku's office earlier?”

Chiya laughed at the question and turned herself around to reveal her back. Earl widened his eyes at the long cuts going down her back, it was becoming clear to him what had happened.

“Chi', all you had to do was tell me the truth earlier, we could've just left him in your room before we spoke with Seppuku.”

The Mysterian sighed, “I should've known you would side with me.”

“You realize that you agreed to Seppuku's plan, right?”

Chiya widened her eyes looking up at him, “Uh, what _was_ that plan, anyhow?”

“That you be used as bait to lure a gang leader into sniping position.”

“Wha-” Chiya gritted her teeth and fell backwards, “I'm not doing that!”

“You better warn him, then. He established with me that we commence this operation in three days.”

 _Three days…_ Chiya repeated in her mind. She had three days until all Hell could break loose. She looked down at Mauser, then at Earl; realizing that their lives could be cut short if something were to go wrong. Chiya shook her head to acknowledge the warning. She had to make the best out of the next few days in case things did not go as planned. Little did she know, much was to soon occur...


	33. Lap 33

==Lap 34=

 

A day later, Chiya stood before Seppuku's office, it was now the evening as she had slept in with her new cat, Mauser. She now had the desire to look into Seppuku's plan again, this time with much more attention; above all, a retraction of her agreement to be a damsel had to occur. Chiya had already been held captive by her enemies several times before, this was a position in the mission she would decline without hesitation.

 _Wow, he's going to be so annoyed with me for taking back what I said…_ After taking one brave exhale, Chiya opened the door and found Seppuku just as he was grabbing his rifle; she had forgotten, it was that time of the night where Seppuku would take to the street in search of crime—a hunt.

The Man of Darkness expressed legitimate surprise upon spotting the nervous girl, “What a surprise. You're usually messing around in your room this time of the night.” He shook his head while chuckling, “Presumably, with Bendek grasping your shoulders all night long...”

Chiya dismissed the sexual joke and breathed in, prepared for a lecture, “I know you're going to be mad, so I'm just going to come out with it...” And with only this said, Seppuku clenched his fists in anger. “I wasn't, quite, paying attention to your plan before. I didn't know what I was agreeing to and I certainly don't want to be a fishing lure in your plan.”

“Of course, I should have known that you had your head in the clouds.”

 _Actually, I had an angry cat clawing me up…_ Seppuku still had no idea of Mauser's existence in the organization, meaning she would need to continue on with her original story of being sick during his plan.

“No, I was sick yesterday, I could barely stand up straight.”

“That's not what Bendek told me…”

Chiya gasped and glared, “Oh really? And just what did Earl tell you, exactly?”

The man shook his fist up with barred teeth, “He told me that you were doing your little 'girl stuff'!”

The girl quirked her mouth, “Uh... Yeah okay, I was drawing in my room…”

“Typical.”

Chiya rolled her eyes, “So, I still want to help make these gangs bugger off. What other role can I play in this plan?”

Seppuku crossed his arms, “For one, leave your stupid play things behind so you don't get distracted. No drawings, no comics; got it?” A glare was received, but the man did not regard it. “Secondly, keep away from Bendek while we're sniping; he's nothing but a distraction.”

“Yes, sir…”

The Man of Darkness nodded and held up his rifle, ready to leave for his hunt, “That loser talks to every girl he can, but never wants to hit the bed. All he's good for is fixing machines, which he now slacks off in doing.”

Chiya stomped her foot down, offended by his second remark, “Shut up, Seppuku. You owe him so much more than you think.”

“He fixes my machine; any high school auto shop runt can do that.”

“F-Zero racers have crews that tend to their machines; Earl is _one_ person who gets the job done really fast.”

A chuckle was returned, “Please, if anything he owes _me_.”

Chiya gasped with a heavier glare, “How the Hell does he owe _you_?” Seppuku dipped his head and smirked in a bid to try and frustrate her, “Answer the bloody question!”

“He's just like you,” he answered. Chiya grunted and tilted her head in awe at his answer. “He also has a dark past; I don't know your story, but he's in no better state than you.”

Chiya changed her angry expression into an intrigued one, “What could he have done that's on par with my past?”

Seppuku leaned against his desk, willing to set off his hunt for a few minutes, “In due time. If I told you, he would probably quit,” Chiya lowered her eyebrows in fear, Seppuku was finding some kind of thrill from this conversation, “I can read his face; he wants you to respect and look up to him. He needs you to respect him. But the fact remains; if you knew Earl Bendek like I do, you wouldn't find him so great. So, no; I'm going to work off of his past and continue blackmailing him.”

Chiya couldn't believe what she was hearing; this was one of the cruelest things she had ever heard come out of Seppuku's mouth. She shook her head in disbelief, unable to comprehend what Earl may have done that was so bad and how Seppuku got hold of this information.

“He belongs to me, Flower. What you don't know is what keeps him sane; he'll do whatever it takes to keep you from figuring him out, and that's why I know he'll kiss my feet to the very end...” Seppuku concluded with a grin.

The Mysterian floored her foot in constant motion, “You're exaggerating!”

“That's right, Flower. Keep sucking on Earl's big lie. But in the end, that's all you'll ever keep doing—sucking with no chance of a climax.”

She turned towards the door with an immediate desire for answers from the man who's words mattered most, “Yeah? Well... Let's see what Earl has to say about all of this..!”

“He's in the Upper City right now.”

Chiya came to a stop right after grabbing the doorknob, “I've never had coffee this late at night before, but the Falcon House would make a good place-”

“Idiot, he's with his _girlfriend_ , on a _date_.”

With wide eyes and an open mouth, Chiya jolted her head up and turned back around, “Girlfriend..?”

“The guy doesn't have time to work on my machine, but apparently he has time for sexless dates.” Chiya stood without motion, he was being given a dumbstruck stare. “He met her while on the way to Aeropolis, from what I understand.”

Chiya's eyes went many places before becoming solid on a wall. Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her and motioned her with a hand.

“Hello—o..? What the Hell are you staring at?”

She looked up at him and swallowed, “I need to save him…”

“Uh, what?”

“She must be with Red Star or the Bloody Chain…” The girl smacked her hands together, “...or Dark Million...”

Seppuku began to chuckle, “What the Hell are you on about?”

Chiya narrowed her eyes, “She's probably a spy or an assassin trying to collect info on us.” At first Seppuku was certain that she may be joking, but could now see that she was saying this with all seriousness, “I know for a fact this girl is up to something…”

“Flower, she's just a woman—like you.”

“Exactly!” She flapped her arms in a frenzy. “I'm full of surprises, meaning she must be as well!”

“You're going to need more evidence than that.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and put on a small frown, “W- What's her name?”

Seppuku tapped his chin a few times and shrugged, “Maggie, or something…”

Chiya pouted and crossed her arms, “ _Maggie_ , that's a dumb name…”

The lieutenant remained still scratching his chin, Chiya had dipped her head down while still pouting. It only took the man a few more moments to realize what was going on. Rather than comforting Chiya, he did the complete opposite.

“Yeah, if she and Earl kick it off I'll have to add her to the organization,” Chiya responded by gasping, “Two guys, two girls; sounds like a real dream team...”

“T- There's not enough room for a fourth person…” she commented.

“On the contrary, we can always move things around. I'd move you into Bendek's room and let those two sleep in your room.” The man chuckled and shook his head, “How awkward, though. You'd probably have to deal with the sounds of those two getting intimate every now and then... Just Earl and Maggie; and poor little Chiya sitting alone in her room...”

Chiya's right eye began to twitch; it was only logical for her to retreat from the office with a distraught state of mind. Seppuku's words were cold, harsh, and very unnecessary—but he believed it to be fair play since she sided with Earl against him in so many conflicts.

Once the door closed, Chiya grasped her forehead with a quivering lip. Silenced by Seppuku's comments, the girl was lost staring at the ground. _But I don't want Maggie to join the group…_ She continued down the hallway and made a quick retreat into her room. Alone and without a word to say, this was how Chiya wanted things to be for the moment.

Once in her room, she leapt into bed in frustration. The very first thing the girl did was grab onto her knees and curl up by her pillow moaning. Mauser leapt up onto the bed and approached her head, intrigued by Chiya's erratic entrance. It was there that the Mysterian remained laying, moaning, and muttering hateful terms aloud to herself. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was crushed and defeated without a chance to fight back.

“Mauser, what should I do if I'm ninety-five percent sure that this one girl Earl's with is actually a gang member in disguise?” The small cat remained still staring at her, not about to speak her language. Chiya sighed, “Right, you're just a cat...”

 

 

Meanwhile in the Upper City; Earl sat within a common restaurant and was facing a black-haired girl of clear Chinese roots. The restaurant was more so for middle class citizens, which for someone of Earl's income could be compared to an expensive restaurant. As for Maggie, Earl needn't inform her of his low income; as a snake of romance, he only planned on sticking around Maggie until he could lock lips with her—then he'd jet. It was a dirty and immoral hobby of his, and his only excuse was that despite how very rude this hobby of his was, at least he wasn't trying for sex. Be that as it may, just about anyone could still disagree with Earl's apparent justification.

Maggie wiggled her fingers around and smiled, “I'm so glad we could hook up again.”

The Korean nodded with a faked grin, “For sure, I'd be lying if I said I've been on many dates before, though. So let's make this the best date ever, yeah?”

The girl turned her head with a suggestive brow, “Oh, are you saying we should..?”

Earl's grin became larger, “I've got a tight schedule and can't fool around. But how about we make our date, here, something to remember.”

Maggie snapped her fingers, “Ah, okay!” She winked at him, “You mean, chow down and pig out, right?”

“Uh...” Earl let out a chuckle, “Well, I certainly don't want to drain you of your wallet...”

The girl's eyes widened at the mentioning of her wallet, “Oh, shoot. That reminds me...” She beamed at him and shrugged, “Could you pay for the food?”

Earl widened his eyes, “Wha- Weren't we Going Dutch?”

“Yeah, well, I forgot my purse at home, so...” Earl closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. “But it's like you said, we should make this a night to remember, yeah?”

The man sighed a second time, “I guess I can pay for everything...”

This revelation damaged Earl's mood to a fair extent; the other part of his typical girl hunt is that he seeks those who can pay for their part of the date. _I've never had anyone ask me to pay for them before..._ The man picked up his menu and began looking for something to eat, Maggie did so as well. Awkward silence now divided the two as they sought out a meal; of course, Earl was going to penny pinch to avoid losing all his money.

The waitress not much later showed up at their table and asked, “Order when you're ready.”

Earl sighed yet again and scratched his thin beard, “Glass of water, a cut of sirloin- no, uh; chicken breast, and some fries.”

“Very good, sir. And you?”

Maggie puckered her lips and nodded, “Yeah, okay. I'll have some orange juice, slice of prime rib,” Earl widened his eyes and grunted, “Large fries, a patty with caviar,” next he beat on his chest and cringed. “Um, ma—aybe- yeah, some lobster eggs, two frosted bagels-”

Earl dropped his menu and began to twitch, “C- Could you perhaps reconsider and just have some sushi, instead?”

Maggie snapped her fingers, “Oh, right. And I'll have some sushi.”

“Very good, ma'am.”

The Korean closed his eyes as though he could start weeping. He opened one eye and looked down at his wallet; to afford such a meal, he would need to spend almost everything he still had—including money reserved for groceries, beer, and garage parts. _God damn, I didn't know that I would be having dinner with the Princess of Wales..!_

With the two waiting for their meals, Maggie continued to give Earl a lovestruck face; he, however, was facing the repercussions of being a snake—very costly repercussions.

“You're really spoiling me, Earl...”

“Yes, I know...”

 

 

 

Later that night, Chiya emerged from her room and walked about the base with two hands in her pockets. The idea of having another female in Seppuku's organization bothered her to the point of great sorrow; she didn't want anyone to disrupt her relationship with Earl. The concept of being single, shy, and only in the back of Earl's head was beyond bothersome to the Mysterian; she didn't want to spend each day of her new life watching Maggie and Earl prosper in front of her.

 _If she comes, Earl won't wanna' talk to me anymore…_ More fears began to encircle her as she entered the lobby. W _hat if she is more useful to Seppuku than I..?_

She remained standing in the lobby with a quirked mouth; there was a disturbance within the base that of which put the girl in distress. That disturbance was what Chiya most feared nowadays and above all wished to have seen an end to. Silence and isolation—no life other than her own present in the base aside from her cat. Earl was in the Upper City, Seppuku out and about in the Lower City; Chiya could only recognize her own breathing—nothing more. To be alone again was what Chiya feared more than anything; and while Earl and Seppuku would only be gone for so long, there was the stirred up fear of Maggie causing Chiya to be cast out of the group. To be forgotten about, dismissed, and perhaps exiled back onto the streets—alone.

Soon, following many depressing thoughts; Chiya moved into the garage and approached the _Purring Kitten_. This was a rare moment, however, for she did not express joy toward her machine.

“The Purring Kitten is my dream; but...” She bent over and dropped her chin onto the machine's body, then sighed, “Is it really my _biggest_ dream?”

F-Zero meant much to Chiya; but she soon came to realize over the course of working alongside her two friends that it might not be the only reason she desired to stay in Seppuku's organization. At first it was about the machine and money, now she was questionable as to whether her biggest aspirations had changed.

And so the woman fell to her knees and made a loud sigh, placing her hands flat down on the machine in the process, “I could watch F-Zero races with Earl for the rest of my life and stay happy; but I could never race without those two by my side...”

She closed her eyes and sat on the floor with a frown, now realizing how very important Earl and Seppuku were to her. An F-Zero machine and shot at the Grand Prix were insignificant next to the power Earl and Seppuku had over her emotions. Sad and defeated, Chiya continued sitting beside the _Purring Kitten_ alone and silent. The F-Zero machine meant everything to her; but only if she had Earl and Seppuku to enjoy it with. Of the two, she was longing for Earl to stay her friend—perhaps even more than a friend.

 

 

 

Earl chuckled at Maggie and raised his hands up, “And then when Chiya reached in to touch the running engine, I could make her squeal by revving it. She always does it, too; very funny.”

“Mhm,” Maggie responded. “I'm not sure why I decided to be a dentist instead of a hair stylist; I started off wanting to be a hair stylist, but ended up a dentist. Go figure.”

The food on Earl's plate had been cleared, Maggie was finishing up her plates. As expected, the bill was not easy to look at for one of Earl's income; though he had no choice but to pay. Irregardless, Earl was having good conversations with Maggie; however, many were about Chiya of all people.

“A dentist, eh?” He scratched his chin with a smirk, “Could you fix me up with free cleaning if I asked?”

The girl shook her head, “Nope, you have to pay.”

“Come to think of it, Chiya's got the brightest teeth I've ever seen...” Maggie rolled her eyes aside and nodded. “She came from the homeless streets, I have to wonder how she kept her teeth so clean during those days when she couldn't keep the rest of her body clean.”

Maggie sent him an almost irritated smirk, “So, this Chiya had a disgusting appearance when you met her, then?” Earl blinked without much emotion. “She looked unfitting for the girl role? Smelled bad?”

“Well, sure; but Chiya just has that unmatched beauty that can withstand dirt. She gets that benefit of looking good even with bad hygiene.”

A few moments of silence ensued before Maggie half smiled and raised a finger, “Have you ever been to the mall? New music emporium being installed there; I hear you can create remixes of any song you'd like and buy them there.”

“Really? That's awesome!”

She nodded, “But overall it'll be a great place to just hang out with friends, you know?”

Earl hummed with great interest, “I might need to check that place out soon. Seppuku doesn't like music, but I could take Chiya; she likes Japanese music, or at least I-”

“You know...” Maggie closed her eyes in frustration, “No offense, but you sound like you'd rather be on a date with _Chiya_ right now, not me.”

Earl's eyes widened in response, “Huh? Me?” He swallowed and bit his lip, “Chiya and I?”

To his surprise, Maggie stood up and grabbed her purse from under the seat, “I'm looking for a relationship; a future partner. I'd rather not risk seeing Chiya in our bed one day, no offense.” The Korean grunted in response to this as well, but was speechless. “You're a great guy, Earl; but you've been talking about this Chiya girl from the moment we got here. If you like the girl so much, why don't you go home and do stuff with _her_?”

With this said, Maggie put the purse over her shoulder and walked away. There Earl remained with a dropped chin and loose mind. Getting dumped on a date was a rarity for the man, thus leading him to worry if Chiya's presence in the organization was now conflicting with his game of snaking around for women. Nonetheless, Earl did not think of Chiya in a negative light; he in fact thought the opposite.

With a grin, the man nodded and looked up, “Hey, yeah; Chiya's my best friend and can offer a lot. I should go watch TV with her or something.”

Before leaving, he dug out the appropriate amount of money to pay off the food, minus a tip because of how much he was already losing. After tossing the credits down on the table, the man grunted and glared.

“Wait a minute...” He stomped his foot down and complained, “Maggie _did_ have her purse!”

 

 

Earl was on the move to get home and spend time with Chiya, but he was too late; she was already walking down the streets of the Lower City without a location in mind. She looked up at the unfamiliar dark sky and hummed; walking outside at night was something Chiya refrained from doing since that fateful night she met Seppuku. Mute City had a magnificent appearance at night even in the Lower City; the sky was somewhat illuminated due to the millions of Upper City lights.

Chiya looked at her broken hand and sighed, “I still can't believe I signed up for this job…”

The Mysterian continued down the sidewalk with a broken face; much like the base, there was not a sound to be heard. One sad thought linked to another sad thought in an endless loop; all it took was for Earl to go on a date with someone to break her.

She passed through an intersection and took a turn for the street containing Rough Odds. It was upon turning, however, that Chiya had been stopped.

“Flower.”

Chiya stood still but did not turn her head, Lieutenant Seppuku was gazing at her from the road. His rifle was situated in his grasp and an irritated look upon his face.

The girl turned to face him, “I didn't think I'd see you out here.”

“I'm the one who should be saying that.” The man lowered his rifle and questioned, “What the Hell are you doing out here? You of all people should know that the Lower City is especially dangerous at night.”

Chiya's face conveyed an understanding of this point, but at the same time a somewhat challenging look. Nevertheless, she wasn't afraid to speak her true thoughts aloud.

“Seppuku, I need to talk to you.”

Little did the two know, atop a building sprinted several Red Star gangsters. Rooftop to rooftop the gangsters jumped with their weapons. One of the gangsters came equipped with an outdated sniper rifle.

Chiya walked over to Seppuku with a face seeking answers, the man nodded and soon responded, “Talk about what? Why are you out here?”

The two convened in the center of the street, Seppuku towered over Chiya in height—yet she did not shy away. “If Maggie comes to live with us, I don't want to be kicked out, Seppuku. It's not fair that I should be evicted back onto the streets just because Maggie is Earl's girlfriend.”

“Who said you're getting kicked out?”

Chiya crossed her arms, “It's expensive housing a human, I understand that. But I care about you two... a little more than I do my F-Zero dreams, admittedly.” After saying this, Chiya's mind became disorganized, and thus her next words were sudden and random. “I especially hate the thought of Maggie being with Earl; it makes me sad for some reason...”

The Red Star gangsters came to a stop on the roof and got down on their knees. The sniper began setting up his weapon while the allies kept watch of Chiya and Seppuku.

Seppuku groaned and flapped his arms, “God dammit, Flower. Maggie's not going to move in with us...”

Chiya gulped, “So, Earl's going to leave us?”

“No, Flower; listen...” He folded his arms and sighed, “I was poking your head earlier today; you know, messing around with your emotions. Earl is a guy who goes on a lot of dates—as a sport.”

“Huh? He still does that?”

“He always has. The man will go for a kiss and never talk to the girl again. He's _never_ let a relationship go past one date; as a matter of fact, you're the only girl he's ever shown actual care for.”

The Mysterian placed a finger below her lip and put on a puppy face, “I am?”

The sniper got on one knee and looked through the scope, he was eyeing both Seppuku and Chiya, able to snipe either off in one quick and unprecedented moment. The issue was picking who to snipe: Seppuku, a strong and fearsome third party warrior in the gang war; or Chiya Flower, whom had destroyed many hover bikes and humiliated the chain of command. Through careful thinking, the sniper trained himself on Seppuku.

Seppuku patted Chiya on the back, “Earl's fonder of you than he has any girl... or guy, for that matter. I, personally, don't see why you like him so much; unless he's drunk, Bendek's a real drag. But if you really do care for him, he'll probably be home soon.”

Chiya smiled in relief; meanwhile, the Red Star sniper prepared to take a shot off at the back of Seppuku's head. Before anyone could take an action of any sort, surprise had been enlisted by both parties as a buzzing sound could be heard coming from the intersection.

Both grunted and looked toward the intersection, far up the street were three Red Star hover bikes and two Bloody Chain machines. The vehicles were combating each other, even though neither had combat modules.

Seppuku raised his rifle and knelt down, “Flower, we've got company!”

At that same moment a bullet had been fired from the sniper, which chipped Seppuku in the shoulder. The man made a loud grunt and did a twirl; with a miraculous shot, he took out the sniper. The wound Seppuku received was very minor.

Chiya pulled out her gun and twirled her way over to a streetlight in desperation for cover; bullets rained down from the rooftop, but only two gangsters were firing at Chiya. Seppuku placed himself behind a streetlight as well and returned fire. The sight of bright bullets bouncing off the ground installed great fear into the Mysterian; the fear reduced her accuracy to a significant extent.

Meanwhile, the oncoming gang vehicles continued to clash while making their way to the fight; some of the Bloody Chain machines were taking shots from the rooftop goons. The Red Star bikers had fast vehicles, but couldn't make use of ramming since they were bikes ~~\--~~ a major drawback. Red Star gangsters could wield assault rifles while driving, the obvious perk of riding a bike.

Seppuku bolted away from the streetlight and took a shot up toward the roof; his bullet ravaged the receiver, thus causing the soldier to fall off the roof dead. Just after doing this, the Man of Darkness spun around and dropped to his knees.

Almost void of fear, the man brought his rifle up with a solid hold and trained his iron sight on a Bloody Chain machine. He fired, thus sending an armor piercing round forward. The blazing bullet traveled across the street and made immediate contact with the cockpit of the machine; the mere bullet sent the window shattering and the driver incapacitated.

This hit caused a chain reaction, for the machine had driven in a zigzag, had two Red Star bikes crash into it, then ended up in a pile of machinery. A sole Bloody Chain machine escaped the predicament unharmed.

With less rooftop gangsters alive, Chiya knelt down and aimed at the pile of machines; she was under the presumption that there were survivors. Indeed, two Red Star bikers emerged from their wrecked bikes—both appeared disoriented and surprised. The two were fired upon in quick bursts, furthering the shock that both gangsters had. Regardless, both turned to return fire at Chiya.

The surviving Bloody Chain machine turned around and began driving toward the combat zone once more, the plan being to run over enemies of the Bloody Chain. Seppuku was prepared to deal with this, but didn't have to; one of the rooftop gangsters pulled up a rocket launcher and took aim at the oncoming machine. He fired the rocket, and with little effort on his part, the machine was sent ablaze and rocketed toward the crashed vehicles like a fireball.

Chiya was still in heated battle with the two bikers, one of which was soon picked off with a near-missed headshot. The other biker was put down by Seppuku with an easy shot to the gut. By now, this particular street was covered in flames, shells, blood, and wreckage.

The goon who had fired the rocket launcher stuck another rocket down the tube, then lifted the weapon upward. He couldn't spot Seppuku in time, however, and so a bullet came driving at him. The armor piercing bullet penetrated through the rocket and hit the goon in the rocket pouch, thus causing a massive explosion. A part of the building they stood upon collapsed due to the explosion, only Chiya panicked at the sight of this.

The tides were now established, Chiya and Seppuku continued their fight with the rooftop gangsters; with Seppuku's accuracy, one could argue that this was now a lopsided fight. On the other hand, Chiya was forced to fight with her non-dominant hand.

An exchange of fire remained intense and wouldn't stop, but the first bad hit of this engagement had soon occurred.

In a moment of shock and awe, Chiya suddenly found herself feeling staked through the gut; a stray bullet managed to find its way to her torso. Likewise, a gangster was shot and fell from the rooftop. Seppuku continued firing, but soon took note of Chiya's lack of shots. He twirled to avoid getting hit and took a second shot, again killing a gangster. It was then that he turned his head and grunted.

Chiya stood with trembling legs while holding her stomach, her gun was down by her waist as she coped with an extreme level of pain. Then, to make matters far worse, Chiya was knocked clean to the ground with yet another shot to the stomach. With a beyond shocked expression, Seppuku turned his body and turned off his caution; he blew the remaining two gangster apart like mere targets.

Killing the final two men brought silence to the battlefield, two raging fires engulfed around them from the vehicles and rooftop. The man gritted his teeth and made a quick turn, Chiya was laying motionless and with a soaked belly.

“Damn!”

Chiya remained on her rear with quivering eyes, she was left rubbing her forehead as a deafening ring continued to sound in her head. In this state, she could hardly comprehend that she had been shot twice. Her eyes remained solid on the blazing fire ahead of her, watching as each flame raised up into the air before disappearing. The next thing she knew Seppuku was in front of her waving his hand.

“Flower, Flower!” She was for the most part unresponsive, an immediate sweat began to build up on Seppuku's forehead. “Dammit, don't do anything stupid, Flower! You've got a lot to live for!”

She barred her teeth slowly and moved her broken hand up to her face; she was startled to find that her bandaged hand was blood soaked. In a confused state, she slapped the side of the signaling device with what breath she still had. Seppuku received the distress call, but dismissed it. It was while staring into the haunting visor of Lieutenant Seppuku that she was faced with complete darkness—as though his visor had devoured her.

Her eyes closed. No one came out of the battle victorious. Once again, a simple walk through Mute City at night turned into complete disaster ~~—~~ only this time she hadn't gotten so lucky.

 

 

 

Soon, Chiya opened her eyes a light bit; only slits of her eyes were visible. Next her eyes widened in complete shock at what she was witnessing. A river of chocolate was ahead of her as she stood in a field of sunflowers, the temperature was cool. The girl stepped back in horror and gasped at her clothing, she was wearing her usual attire, only her shirt and shorts were white. Pulled off her beanie hat revealed white fabric as well.

“What the heck is this!?”

She looked up at the sky and grunted with a disturbed expression, the clouds were shaped like cats. One thing had become clear to her on the instant—she was not on Earth anymore, this much was clear to her. She was trembling while observing the obscure world. With a raised brow, she lifted her shirt up and found an unscratched belly.

“I- I'm dead…” she muttered in disbelief. “Or… am I in Canada..?”

Just as she began to grasp what was going on, a young gray cat approached her from a field of roses, the cat was easy to recognize as Mauser. Chiya gasped at the sight of Mauser, unsure of what to make of the situation. Despite the shock of his presence, the Mysterian exhaled in relief to see a familiar face.

“Well, if Mauser is here, maybe I'll find my friends...”

“Not quite, you have to wait until they die as well,” said Mauser.

Chiya jumped back and shouted, “Blimey! What the Hell!?”

Mauser licked his paw and spoke, “No, you certainly didn't go _there_. This is the good place!”

Chiya closed her eyes and sighed; to her this confirmed that she had died, “Mauser, why are you here? You didn't die…”

The cat rolled on his back and answered, “I'm not the real Mauser, simply a figure constructed by your childish desire for a talking animal companion. As a matter of fact, this whole world is built based off of your dreams and desires! Isn't that lovely?”

“I don't wanna' be here! I want to go home!” she cried.

“Yo- You- wait...” The cat appeared very puzzled,  “You would rather live in that Lower City dump in Mute City surrounded by criminals, rather than this paradise?”

Chiya tapped a finger over her lip, then widened her eyes and blinked a few times upon realizing that her right hand was no longer broken. She wiggled her fingers around and frowned.

“This place is nice, but I wouldn't want to spend an eternity here; not without people I care about.”

Mauser whipped his tail back and forth, “You don't get the full package right away since you failed to complete your life goal—your purpose in life…” Chiya remained still blinking at him; she was most intrigued by the mentioning of a 'full package'. “If you had completed the life task you established, you would have gotten immediate control over your world that allows you to do whatever you want. Since you did not, you must reside in a pre-designed paradise until your intended year of death is reached. And let me tell you, Chiya, you were meant to survive many more decades.”

Chiya growled at the replicated Mauser, “That isn't fair! I didn't mean to die in that fight!”

“Well you didn't-” the cat whipped his head around and discontinued his sentence, Chiya narrowed her eyes.

“I'm not really dead, am I?”

“Technically, no. It was decided that your body was too damaged to just let you live, so you were shut off and brought up here early.”

Chiya stomped her foot down in a tantrum, “No, no, no! I still have so much to do!”

The cat hissed, “You can go beg for a second chance, but even if you're allowed back down, what's the point? Your body was so torn up by bullets you would probably need to be taken care of by a machine the rest of your life.”

“I'll take my chances…”

The cat shook in disapproval, then turned towards a cave, “Well, first you must find your way out of here. The beginning of your quest is in that cave.”

“Excellent.”

She began her walk to the cave; moments into her walk she took note of Mauser's sudden disappearance. This was something to be suspicious of, but she continued walking nonetheless. Chiya was in all actuality amazed by her surroundings, everything was perfect for her; though as Mauser had told her, she failed to fulfill her meaning in life and was thus not given control over her paradise. _This is so obscure…_

The cave appeared to have something shiny inside; Chiya could only guess what it might be considering everything in this world was based on her dreams and desires. She took one step inside the cave before several lights began to flare; this revealed a garage mimicking the one in Seppuku's base. The true interesting aspect of this reveal was not the garage, however; but rather the shiny object. Chiya was gazing at the legendary _Blue Falcon_.

Chiya gasped and ran up to it; her initial reaction was to rub her hands against the shiny blue machine.  The girl trembled in amazement at the legendary machine that so many aspired to be in the mere presence of—Chiya was granted the opportunity to drive it. Mauser made his return and leapt up onto the machine.

“Stay here, and this can all be yours…”

Chiya put her hands off of the machine and narrowed her eyes in frustration, “No.”

“Come o—on…” Chiya crossed her arms and refused to acknowledge him. “How about I give you a look to go with the machine?” The cat suddenly transformed Chiya's clothes into that of Captain Falcon's, even her beanie hat into the red Falcon helmet.

Chiya gritted her teeth and began to panic, “Oh God! C- Change me back! Change me back!”

The cat did as instructed and turned her back to normal, this time she found herself wearing her normal colors. Chiya looked back at the _Blue Falcon_ and opened its cockpit without regarding the cat. Chiya strapped herself into the chair and powered on the machine, something about riding the _Blue Falcon_ felt very right to her. Mauser leapt up to the cockpit before Chiya closed it, hoping to persuade her yet.

Just before she could close the cockpit, her breasts began to grow by the second.

“What the Hell!?”

“Don't you want bigger boob-”

“No! Th- They're big enough as they are!”

Mauser closed his eyes and nodded; he whipped his tail and brought her breasts back to normal. Chiya now had a pestered look on her face and swished her hand at the cat, requesting that it leaves.

The cat rolled his eyes, “Alright, fine. All I'm saying is that you're going to need a really persuasive argument to get a second chance, considering you were shot two times with only Earl and Seppuku there to help you…” Chiya raised an eyebrow at the cat, “It's just, it will look strange if you somehow survive such a tragedy. Your friends will probably think that you're some kind of monster zombie…”

Chiya shook her head, “Me, a monster?” A sarcastic chuckle was given, “No offense, but... you're a talking cat.”

Mauser stood still, but soon leapt off the hood of the machine. Chiya closed the cockpit and drove out of the cave; she had no idea where to go. Chiya was a girl lost in her own paradise, but her desire to see Earl and Seppuku again would keep her going…


	34. Lap 34

==Lap 35=

 

Chiya was surrounded by softness, cuteness, kittens, and chocolate; she was living a dream. This was without a doubt the world on the other side, but she knew that her time had come too soon; she had no intention of staying for long. At this moment she was driving the _Blue Falcon_ down a field towards a large replicated Mute City ~~—~~ only the cartoon-like sky added an unfitting touch to the large metropolis. Chiya was on a mission to find those in charge of this world; easier said than done.

A taken back Mysterian looked up at the feline-shaped clouds and raised an eyebrow, “This doesn't seem like the perfect world for me; more so, it looks designed for a drug addict…”

Most aspects of this world were indeed relevant to Chiya's interests, but things like the feline-shaped clouds seemed like an unnecessary addition to her dreamland. _I wonder if a replica of our base is in this city…_ Her thought came to find that if there was a replica of Mauser, perhaps there would be of Seppuku and Earl as well. Despite it being very welcoming, Chiya was somewhat frightened of this world; no one living within this world were real, they were all beings created for the sole purpose of keeping Chiya happy for an eternity. The aspiring racer always dreamed of piloting the _Blue Falcon_ , but she couldn't enjoy the moment knowing that there was still hope of surviving on the other side.

“I really hope Seppuku got me help…”

 

 

Meanwhile, on the other side, a watery-eyed Earl remained knelt next to Chiya's bed. The Mysterian now lay tucked into bed with a pleasant looking face; though she showed clear signs of life, it looked as though Chiya had already departed. She made little to no motion, only breathing—not even so much as a murmur.

“Oh, Chiya. Why couldn't I have been there to protect you..?”

The man brought his head down to the edge of her bed and dropped some tears. He wished so hard that Chiya would suddenly awake and greet him with happy words, but deep inside he had a horrid feeling that this was improbable.

Earl reached up and touched her body while rubbing his eyes with the other hand, “All I wanted was to come home and hang around with you some more, maybe talk in the garage or something; now I may never get that chance…”

Not much later, Earl had exited her room and stood between both his and her bedroom doors. It was here that he grasped his forehead and made a very strong sigh of distress. Despite the circumstances of how Chiya ended up in this situation, Earl was suffering from an all too common issue: He was beating and blaming himself. The thoughts circulating in his head were unsettling, disturbing, even dangerous; each thought came back to strangle him with the idea that he had allowed for Chiya to get hurt.

Very slow steps were taken into the man's own bedroom, he closed the door behind him and ventured over to his couch—where he collapsed and combed his hair back. There was no escaping the many images of Chiya Flower that rushed into his mind; to fail someone who defines 'innocence' was unbearable—to let that person die is unacceptable. Be that as it may, there was little Earl could do; he was a mechanic with basic skills in treatment. The unfortunate truth was that he lacked the knowledge needed to efficiently save people from dying. Earl was Chiya's only hope; any citizen of the Lower City knew that healthcare was impossible to acquire. No money and no job, no one who lived down here could enjoy hospital services—not even Seppuku and his companions.

Earl soon placed a Korean flag down on the floor—a red and gold flag, better known as the 'Joseon banner', which represented the new unified Korean nation. He looked upon the fabric with a sorrow-filled face, then in a moment of desperation, he raised up his old military handgun while trembling. In this moment, the man was without rationality and critical thinking; but he was also without hope and honor. With the mindset that he had failed Chiya, shooting himself over the Korean flag seemed only appropriate—to him. This procedure could best be compared to seppuku, or 'harakiri', in which the man takes his life in desperation to regain lost honor.

But alas, Earl could not go through with the procedure.

“God dammit…”

He tossed the gun across the room, which landed on his bed. Again, the Korean fell onto his couch and made a very loud groan of disgust. On one hand, he was disgusted by the fact that he would consider such an extreme course of action; on the other hand, he didn't feel content living on with a dead Chiya on his conscious. Life had taken a sudden and cruel turn for the worst, and while Earl refrained from killing himself—he had another negative method of escape.

With watery eyes, Earl crawled around on his couch after taking a beer into his hand. Like many individuals would under such stress, there was an urge to drink his problems away. In his mind, he needn't worry about the repercussions that could soon follow.

 

 

 

The metropolis looked just like Mute City, but the sky was the only imperfection for it had clouds in the shape of cats. She entered the Upper City right away and was starting to calm down to an extent. Chiya became more hopeful by the minute as she saw citizens of Mute City cheer her while driving the famous F-Zero machine; this was nothing new, however, as people were always excited to see Chiya drive the _Purring Kitten_ in the real world.

“Insanity…”

Everything was much more colorful and advanced throughout the Upper City, thus making it hard to remember which streets led to Seppuku's base. _I just know that my answers are in that base..!_ Chiya regretted not asking the cat as to where she could find the ones in charge; instead she was taking wild guesses. She turned near the Falcon House and looked back at it, she was considering the establishment as a place to enter, but had a feeling that the base was a better place to start her search. Having made the turn, Chiya now looked ahead toward the slope leading down into the Lower City. What she saw surprised her, however.

“Wh- What the…”

At first glance, the Lower City was a much cleaner and developed section of the metropolis. Still void of traffic, but much less of an eyesore, nonetheless. Chiya rushed down the slope wanting to see more of the Lower City. After reaching the end of the slope, what Chiya found was a well-maintained version of the Lower City with good infrastructure, decent buildings, and even some parked cars. Paying attention to the road was almost difficult, for every turn seemed to reveal something shocking to her, she only hoped that Seppuku's base hadn't been torn down in such a renovated part of Mute City. While she drove down the street coming up on the base, she felt something hit her lap; looking down revealed a box of cookies.

“Huh?” She looked around for the source of the cookies, but couldn't find any possible link to where it may have come from. “I wonder if I can get fat up here…”

She threw the thought off by shaking her head, trying not to be swayed by the amount of nice things the world had to offer. The cookies were thrown onto the floor of the _Blue Falcon_ in frustration.

“I thank you for your gracious offering, but I value my friends back on Earth more than a box of cookies…”

“How about chocolate-coated cookies?” asked a voice.

Chiya widened her eyes and looked for the source of the voice; it was as if the voice had come from inside her head. She came to a hard stop in front of the hidden garage at the base.

“This is all great, but I don't want all of this; not for another fifty or sixty years?” she proposed.

No response was given to her request, she then felt a shock go through her spine upon looking at the base; she feared what it might contain. After getting out of her machine, Chiya grabbed a specific brick on the wall and pulled it upward, this was the secret lever to open the garage door from the outside. She began to bite on her finger, fearful of what the next moments would bring her. As soon as the door opened up in the slightest, she began to crawl under it wanting to get straight to the point.

Upon getting up she was relieved to see that everything was normal for the most part; tools and posters were in the same place, but the _Red Dove_ and Earl's car were missing. This gave Chiya a feeling of doubt. Next, Chiya lowered her eyebrows in suspicion, something was indeed wrong. The garage appeared dirtier and contained more rust, as if the room had gotten older.

“What happened here?” she asked aloud.

“Keep looking around the base, try and figure it out…” the voice answered.

 

 

What seemed like mere minutes for Chiya was actually hours on the other side. Earl remained standing around in his bedroom with several cans of beer sitting up straight on the floor. Despite how many he had opened, many were unfinished. The man had gotten so intoxicated that he couldn't remember whether or not he finished his drinks.

A drunkard Korean was standing in a very unorthodox way—he was slouched beside his television set  and was holding it for support in standing. As of this moment the man was not drinking, but the damaging effects of intoxication was evident just by the sleepy look on his face. Drinking his way out of bad feelings was what he believed to be the best course of action; the same could not be said, oddly enough, by the most irrational being of them all—Lieutenant Seppuku.

Without knowing, the lieutenant had slipped into the bedroom and was disgusted to find so many cans of open beer on the floor. He was especially annoyed to find a Korean flag yet again spread out on the floor; it wasn't an uncommon sight for Seppuku, but he hadn't seen this situation since Chiya arrived in the base for the first time.

“Bendek, for God's sake...”

The Korean smacked his lips and turned around with a struggle, “Wha- What are you doing in here?”

Seppuku reached down for an empty can and raised it up, “This is both pathetic and disgusting...” Earl lowered his eyelids before rolling his eyes. “Beer is meant for fun; not sobbing and whining.”

“Pfft...” Earl swished his hand at the man, “Shut up, man...”

“I'm just pissed that you're doing this _again_. And you can only imagine how pissed I am to see your little suicide flag on the floor again.”

Even more offense was taken by this, “That is a banner representing a rich culture... It wasn't designed for blood to be spilled on...”

“But that's why you have it on the floor, again.”

Earl's stare became more dumbfounded and confused, but after sloppy thinking he nodded, “So what? It's my life, I'll do whatever I want with that life.” His expression became even more agitated, “Suicide is necessary...”

“Suicide is idiotic.”

“It is honorable!”

“It's an act of cowardice; at least in your situation.”

After gulping, Earl dropped to his knees and proceeded to sit on the floor with a palm over his head. Seppuku crossed his arms with a displeased face. A silence ensued as the two took a moment to think. Given that Earl's mind was affected by the alcohol poisoning, Seppuku beat him in the race for a point to make.

“What happens to Flower needn't concern you; it's your life and you decided to go out on a date. It's Flower's fault for not fighting to keep you beside her. To claim that you failed to uphold your code of honor is false.”

Earl opened his reddened eyes and growled, “I could have been here to protect her... I am obligated to protect my home, family, and-”

“Yeah, yeah, I've heard about your precious code in which you are a slave to,” Seppuku swiped his hand aside. “Regardless, it's not your job to keep her from defying common sense. We live in a dangerous part of Mute City, she left on her own accord, therefore it is her fault she may die.”

Earl grabbed his head the very moment Seppuku mentioned the possibility of her death, he shook wildly and made a loud hum. “N- No, no... no more death... I cannot allow any more innocent lives to vanish because of me..!”

The Korean was grabbed by the collar of his jacket and raised up into the air. Seppuku gazed deep into the drunkard's soul and gritted his teeth, “Idiot, didn't you hear me? _This isn't your fault!_ You made a decision with unforeseen consequences; but above all, _she_ made a decision only an idiot would make!” Seppuku tossed Earl about three meters and continued. “A young, blonde, big-chested, clean, virgin, soft, and beautiful girl should not go for a walk in the Lower City at night. That was an idiotic decision she made. Would things have played out differently had you decided to stay home? Yeah, but you didn't know this would or even could happen.” Seppuku crossed his arms once more and shook in disapproval, “So stop being a whiny ass white knight and get over it.”

On the floor, Earl returned a hostile smirk and shook his head while trembling, “You don't know what it's like, man. You don't know what it's like to have the blood of so many on your hands; to have deprived so many of the greatest freedom there is—life.”

“Let it go, dammit. It's been 5 years.”

Earl chuckled in a pathetic way and looked down, “I don't even know why I stick around. Chiya's the only person I like, and honestly, it's because she remains unaware of my past. Nice and forgiving as she may be, Chiya would drop me like an anvil if she knew who I really am...”

Seppuku nodded, “True, but now you're just running your mouth again.” With some thinking, Earl nodded in agreement and remained silent. Seppuku turned away from the man and went toward the door. “Just go to bed or something. Don't kill yourself over Flower, that's just not what she'd want you to do.”

 “It's what the Manchus would want me to do...”

Seppuku opened the door and looked back at him, “Forget about the Manchus. That was years ago.”

Earl blinked a few times as Seppuku left him alone again. With a drowsy face, Earl sat against his bed and groaned as he recollected over his darker days—days he'd like to forget and keep secret from Chiya.

 

 

Chiya entered the lobby of the base and turned on the lights. The once dark lobby now contained portraits of Chiya on the wall, only she appeared to be in her forties. This caused the girl to widen her eyes. The flooring was now blue and red, rather than gray. Chiya looked back and found that the display cases were still standing where they always do, but something was missing.

“Where's the Blood Falcon helmet?”

No response was given, she was left wondering where Seppuku and Earl were; at this point she had a good feeling that they did exist in this world. Still, Chiya shook her head in disbelief at the appearance of the base; she had a feeling that the ambient voice following her would act as a guide soon enough. She opened the door leading to the hallway with the expectation that her room would hold things just as strange as the lobby. She reached for the doorknob in preparation for the worst to happen; as she opened it a crack, a bright light shined with music playing. Chiya widened her eyes and opened the door, she was surprised to find that her room looked nothing like her actual room.

“What is this?”

Her room was white and empty; not even a wall could be seen. It was a blank canvas that she had no intention of walking into, and so she backed away from the room and closed the door in disbelief. After this shocking experience, she turned toward Earl's room. _This should be good…_ She opened the door expecting nothing to be the same, and she was correct.

Earl's room was much different and appeared fit for a woman, not a man. She proceeded to scan the room for anything familiar, but there was nothing she recognized—the room was designed for a woman and that's all she could pick out.

Chiya closed her eyes and sighed, “So, Maggie does move in, then…”

Her eyes then caught something shocking above the bed. Above the bed was a framed photo of another blonde-haired girl in a black t-shirt smiling next to someone—only it wasn't Earl, rather, it was a serious looking Chiya. The Mysterian dropped her jaw in awe and took a step back stepped back. The Chiya depicted in the photo appeared to be much older in the photo. She was not wearing her typical attire in the photo, she was clothed in some kind of navy blue uniform. The much younger woman appeared to be very happy in the photo, while Chiya stood beside her with a serious look.

 _Is she my daughter..?_ Chiya shook her head and then rushed out the room with one more place to go. She kicked open the door to Seppuku's office and was ecstatic to find a large portrait of Seppuku behind the desk, but something was still wrong. The second thing Chiya picked out of the room was a nameplate sitting on his desk labeled 'Bendek'. The girl struck her fist against the wall in fury, having enough of the nonsense she was seeing.

“What is this? This isn't Heaven, it's Hell! If it were Heaven I'd understand what the bloody Hell is going on!”

“Perhaps this all makes more sense to you, now?” the voice asked in response.

Chiya shook her head in fast motion while covering her face, “No, nothing makes sense! I wanna go home! I don't like it here, I don't like it here! Please just send me home!” she begged.

“If you died at the correct time, this would all make more sense.”

 _Correct time..?_ She then gasped as she was no longer in the base, but rather, surrounded by pure light. In front of her was a figure with no clothes or bodily features. A faceless figure with no skin color, hair, genitalia, or anything of that sort.

“You were destined to die far from now, but you jeopardized this by throwing your life around with little care.”

Chiya nodded as she understood her situation more, but was still unsure of why she had to die now of all times.

“Okay, but I don't want to die now, I still have to become an F-Zero racer!” she shouted while flailing her arms.

“You wanted that fight, you thoroughly enjoyed the idea of fighting those gang members on the street,” the figure accused.

“Wha- Wha- Nope, I was just caught in the middle of a storm!”

“You were angry, sad, hurt. You couldn't bear the thought of Earl Bendek living a happy life with someone other than-”

“But, wait..!” Chiya lowered her eyebrows in shame and gritted her teeth. She had interrupted the figure, but in all actuality, she just didn't want to hear the truth. “Fine, I was angry when I left the base, I should have just stayed indoors…”

The figure nodded, “Taking a walk was fine, but when the shooting occurred, you knew that you would kill them all. Doing so wouldn't end the gang war any faster, only end the lives of more beings with the potential to be rescued from their dark occupation.”

“You lie, I didn't want to kill _all_ of them!” she challenged.

“Yes, _all_ of them. You desired to take your anger out on _someone_ , when in reality you should have left the battlefield. Now instead of reconnecting with Earl and having fun, you've allowed him to weep over your unfortunate circumstance.”

“What? Earl?” Chiya was then knocked back into an invisible chair by an unknown force. She looked down and panicked for a moment, but retained her focus on the conversation.

“You hold a grudge against the gang leaders; killing their associates will not further you in reaching your goals.”

Chiya nodded and acknowledged the lecture, “I'm so sorry, but Seppuku always told me-”

“The pretender you know as 'Seppuku' does not act on any morals, nor does he control you. Do things _your_ way.”

Chiya knew the figure was right, Seppuku was not a good role model in the first place. Nothing was stopping her from playing the role of the more merciful member of his organization, her fears of losing a home and potential F-Zero career was the driving force behind her obedience to him. She looked up at the figure, praying that she would get a second chance despite the damage she took.

The figure continued, “I'll get down to the chase, though; you get two options…” Chiya exhaled in relief. “Option one, you stay here forever with access to the other many souls of this universe and full control over your world. You will be granted Godly powers like all others who have fallen; you may use these powers to shape your own world as you so desire—to be your own God. In addition to this, you will be allowed to see those of whom you have lost and still hold dear to you.”

The figure pointed to Chiya's left, the sound of thunder ensued as he pointed. Chiya turned her head and spotted another figure. Her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of the man, half his face remained silhouetted by the bright lights, but enough of his face was visible for Chiya to recognize him.

“…D- Dad…”

“I realize that you loved your father very much, he would be ecstatic to finally meet his little girl again…”

Chiya was grunting constantly at the sight of her father, of whom she had such high respect and love for. Chiya shook her head with watering eyes.

“I- I'm so sorry, Dad…”

“Option two,” Chiya was still looking at her father as she listened, “I bring you back to Earl and Seppuku, but use this as your one miracle. You're out of luck the next time something this bad happens.”

Chiya faced the figure with a dropped jaw, “Only one miracle?”

The figure nodded, “Everyone gets one miracle; one opportunity to escape a fatality under unrealistic circumstances. In your case, you were shot twice and lost far too much blood to possibly recover from. You should be dead, unless you desire to spend this one miracle—in which you will live under miraculous circumstances.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows with a feeling of great pressure, she looked back at her father, “Th- That's an impossible decision…”

“As I recall, your dear friend used up his one miracle a while back, he went through this exact same scenario, believe it or not…”

“Earl or Seppuku?”

“Earl.”

Chiya widened her eyes. _So Earl really was meant to die at Goroh's hands…_

“That's right,” the figure responded.

Chiya looked at the figure and gasped, “Hey, come on! You can't just read my mind!”

“Which option will you choose?”

Chiya breathed in, the only reason she was considering staying here was because of her father's presence. Yet, she realized that her time had come far too soon; any rational father in this situation would support his daughter choosing life over death. Chiya bit on her lip, but had the willpower to return to her friends. She rubbed her chin as she thought about this decision with great caution; if she messed up one more time after this—she would be done for good.

“Earl and I both nearly died thinking that we were doing righteous acts.” The figure crossed its arms, intrigued by the point, “I think both Earl and I should be able to earn back a miracle; if not I, than he of all people should. My killings have been done out of anger and self-defense; Earl received such a fate because he wanted to stop those pirates from hurting innocent lives. Surely, that is a righteous act.”

The figure clapped its hands, “Interesting, it's uncommon for someone to ask for restored miracles. If you two could demonstrate your devotion to your respective religion, maybe then we could work something out…”

Chiya snapped her finger in the air and smiled with an idea, “Soup kitchen!”

“That should be something you do simply as an act of charity and kindness. If you want something in return, you two will have to do something a bit more challenging, in addition to helping others along the way…”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and head in shame, “I could start going to church again, but-”

“You two must receive blessings from the highest ranking figure of your religion. Since both of you are catholic, you must receive personal blessings from the Pope in New Vatican.”

Chiya widened her eyes, “The Pope?”

“Since that is the religion you follow, yes, the Pope. But do not forget, in addition to this, I expect you to act out of kindness—to bring happiness to others in any way you can.”

Chiya beamed at the deal, “Sounds good to me!”

She shook hands with the figure, establishing that she wanted to go back to Earth. She now had a side quest to one day accomplish, to leave for New Vatican with Earl and obtain the Pope's blessings. Chiya looked to her left and found that her father was now gone. The figure stepped away from Chiya and nodded.

“Know this, Seppuku is not someone to be trusted, don't let someone like him put you in a bad situation… Though this may surprise you, F-Zero is one of the lesser significant destinies in store for you, Chiya; you are a special type of person with a name that will one day be spoken across the universe.” The Mysterian expressed great shock, “The universe needs you, Chiya. Do not let Seppuku deprive the universe of your much needed presence by getting you killed.”

Chiya remained shocked, but didn't want to hear more, “Okay, okay; before I go, I have one question to ask…” The powerful figure stood still waiting for her question, “Are you God?”

Silence divided the two for a moment before it answered, “You misunderstand, Chiya. I am no God, I am a servant to you.”

“Wha- What?”

“I am a guide, per se. This is your world waiting for you to one day control it. But alas, that day is not today.”

Chiya stood up and approached the figure with a taken back face, “Th- Then where is God?”

“That is a question I, nor anyone, can answer.”

“But isn't this Heaven?”

The figure shrugged, “Even in the afterlife, the mystery of an existing deity must remain a secret. Perhaps God exists but refuses to reveal itself; perhaps the concept of God is but a mere label for faith—an icon. This is a question you will never find out.”

Chiya continued to grunt, “Then, what religion-”

“Does it matter? Faith revolves around the idea that life has purpose, a way of enforcing morals for the betterment of society. Perhaps no religion has it correct; all that matters is that you have faith of some sort, more so, incentive to move forward in life.”

“I'm so confused...” Chiya grasped her forehead, then grinned, “Irregardless, I am ready to return home...”

 

 

Chiya soon launched herself up in pain and found that she was tucked into her bed. She smiled in relief and looked at her broken hand; the cast was now stained with blood. Chiya struggled to move, however, as she experienced bad aches in her torso. Now clothed in a hospital-like gown, the girl gritted her teeth in fear of how destroyed she may look; a quick examination revealed several large scars across her body.

She stepped out of bed, but a throbbing pain was hitting her chest as she tried doing so. She sat up on the side of her bed and groaned. _Was that all real, or just a really messed up dream..?_

Chiya landed on her feet and was being very careful not to reopen any wounds, she appeared fine for the most part. She took slow steps toward her door and was feeling dizzy as she walked. She could see that her handgun and signaling device were both sitting alongside her beanie hat.

Moments later she exited her room now wearing her signature beanie hat. She held onto the wall fearing that she was going to fall over as she moved. She had only taken two steps out of her room, but she was already fearful that she could be alone in the base with no one to help her if something went wrong. Seppuku's office had a light coming from under the door; telling her that Seppuku was in his office. Suddenly, Chiya let go of the wall and fell straight through Earl's door. Her head kicked the door open on accident. _I need a cane or something…_ she thought in great frustration.

She stepped forward and looked around Earl's room for anything that she could use as a stick; the first thing she saw was a replica rifle on the wall from the war Earl was in. Chiya reached up and pulled it down, hoping to use it for support.

She pressed the rifle against the ground a few times and found it to be a sturdy weapon; she could now walk much better. Something had caught her eye before leaving the room; there was a gun on Earl's bed. Chiya was intrigued by its appearance, it was much fancier looking than most guns she saw. She held it up and noticed that it had something sketched into the handle, ' _보호자_ ', she had no idea what this meant.

The bigger shock came with the fact that the gun was already cocked. She set it back down as her eyes now quivered. She was assuming that Earl was either careless leaving a gun ready to fire or that he was contemplating suicide. Chiya shook her head in fright before speeding out of the room.

 

 

From behind his desk, Seppuku continued a conversation with Earl, “I'm doing more background checks this time, I want our replacement to complain a lot less and follow my orders to the letter.”

Earl was distraught and still drunk to a good extent. He sat in the chair next to Seppuku's desk, “You're so dishonorable, Seppuku, it's sickening...”

“Hey, we're one short, now. We need someone to help us with our organization one way or another.”

Earl rubbed his chin and sighed, contemplating how the organization would survive without Chiya's cheery attitude.

“I don't know what I'll do with her gone. If I can't protect one girl from a bad fate, well…” Seppuku looked over at Earl, “God, it's just not fair that this happened...”

“Things happen…” Seppuku replied.

Finally, Earl took some blame off of himself and onto someone else, “This wouldn't have happened if you didn't push her to do this crap!”

Seppuku stared into Earl's eyes and nodded at his misfortune, “Earl…” The Korean lowered his arms, expecting sympathy from Seppuku. “How's the Red Dove coming along?”

Earl glared at him in disbelief, “You don't care about Chiya, you never cared about her!”

“Of course I cared about Chiya. I took her off the streets and was trying to turn her into an F-Zero racer, like she always wanted.” Earl lowered his eyebrows with watery eyes. “She died nearly fulfilling her dream, that should be enough to close the book with. You should be happy she came so far...”

Earl lowered his eyelids and frowned, “But none of this should have happened; not to her of all people...”

At that moment the door opened, a now frail Chiya walked in using Earl's rifle as a cane. Both Earl and Seppuku were left with dropped jaws at her sudden appearance. Chiya did not change facial expressions as she walked into the office, nor did she speak.

“Impossible…” Earl muttered in amazement.

Chiya approached Earl and pulled the chair away from him, then collapsed onto it. Seppuku grinned at Chiya, he could tell that she was not well, but not dying either.

“Well, hot damn,” was all Seppuku could say.

“Looks like the gangs will have to try harder...” Chiya muttered.

“Thank God…” Earl muttered after exhaling.

Chiya raised her head and stared at Earl, “Earl…”

Earl knelt down beside her, “Yes! How can I help, Chiya?” he pleaded.

Chiya's bangs were covering one eye; the other eye looked at him with fierceness. “You undressed me! What the Hell!” she yelled while tugging on her gown.

 Earl backed away and grunted, “I, u—uh, thought you might have a problem with that; so I did a workaround and didn't removing any of your, _inner_ clothing.”

Chiya looked down her gown and found that she was still wearing the same bra and underwear she had previously been wearing, “Ah, so you did…”

Seppuku pointed at her and grinned, “Not bad, Flower. You and I caused some beautiful mayhem on the streets…”

Chiya yawned at him, choosing not to respond, “So—o…” she looked at Earl again, “How's _Maggie_ …” she hissed.

Earl grinned at the question, “As soon as I heard what happened to you, I... uh... dumped her and drove back here in an instant.”

Chiya faintly smiled at this, “I'm sorry, Earl…”

He waved his hand at her, “No problem, she was kind of burning through my money too quickly, anyway.”

Seppuku tapped his fingers down with impatience, feeling ignored. Chiya looked back up at Earl with a smile, “I'm sure you'll find someone eventually.”

“How damn heartwarming…” Seppuku muttered in disgust, Chiya shot back an angry look, “Obviously you won't be very helpful right now on the account of your wounds.”

Chiya nodded at him, but was trying not to take further offense from him, “Hey, Earl…”

He nodded at her, still overjoyed by her survival, “Yeah?”

Chiya rubbed her chin with a quirked mouth, “Do you wanna... fix some stuff in the garage with me?”

The mechanic beamed and cracked his knuckles, “Heck yeah!” He then grabbed Chiya by the shoulders and exhaled, “But get some rest, please.”

The girl dipped her head down and offered a heartwarming smile, “Thank you, Earl...”


	35. Lap 35

== Pre-finale =

 

Chiya was well asleep, but trapped in a habit of kicking her leg back and forth; she made various looks of discomfort. Mauser struggled to sleep, for he continued to get kicked in the head; the cat stared at his owner confused as to why she was acting so erratic. Chiya gritted her teeth in pain and cringed, she was enduring a nightmare like no other; one she was unable to escape from.

 

 

:: Dream ::

 

Chiya was kneeling down defeated next to a battered Seppuku and Earl; a drop of blood had traveled down her nose as she held Earl, praying for his survival. They were inside a war-torn version of the base, almost destroyed by the Bloody Chain. Chiya had several rips in her clothing; her beanie hat was almost gray from all of the dust and debris she had struggled through with her companions. She continued to slap Earl's cheek, trying to keep him awake.

“Come on, Earl, you can't die here, you just can't!” she pleaded.

Earl remained on the ground, unable to speak over the damage he had taken from bullets; Seppuku was in no better condition. Chiya continued to shake her head as the fast marching of the Bloody Chain closed in. A sparkling stream of blood went down the Korean's mouth as his eyes quivered.

“Please, don't leave me…” she said while rubbing Earl's chin.

 

:: Dream ::

 

 

 

Chiya rubbed her forehead with tightly shut eyes as she remained trapped in the nightmare, she was dreaming of a scenario where the Bloody Chain had raided their base and took out Earl and Seppuku—two individuals she couldn't imagine living without. She continued to grunt and turn with a very moist forehead. Her barred teeth of pure panic grinded and pushed to a point where her jaw became sore.

 

 

:: Dream ::

 

“It was only a matter of time…” a victorious Michael Chain yelled with Chiya held up by the throat.

The girl opened her eyes and glared at the gang leader, shocked that he had beaten Seppuku's organization with so little of a fight. Several well-armed Bloody Chain goons accompanied Michael Chain from behind and were looking at Chiya—the remaining survivor.

“You took everything from me…” Chiya muttered. She no longer had the willpower to fight on; she had accepted her fate, “They were the closest I had to family, and you took them away from me…”

Chain rubbed his chin while grinning, as he lacked any remorse for her. “You can join us, become a daughter to the Bloody Chain.”

The Mysterian returned a very sharp glare, “...I won't leave my friends behind...”

Chain throttled the girl with one hand for a moment then held up his assault rifle. “So you want to see them again, is what you're saying?”

“It's too late now…”

The barrel of his gun found her forehead, “On the contrary…”

Chiya gritted her teeth and began to tremble, seeing that she would be dead any second. She kicked her feet around while staring at the end of his assault rifle; but kick and push as she may, she wasn't going anywhere.

 

:: Dream ::

 

 

Chiya awoke almost screaming, she could feel something stomping on her chest. Mauser was trying to sleep on her and was prancing his paws up and down in constant motion. Chiya could feel herself trembling like never before after such a bad encounter; she couldn't be any more relieved to find that it was but a mere nightmare. Irregardless, it was without question the most horrific nightmare she had ever received. Her forehead was practically dripping in sweat. She grabbed Mauser and set him aside, not wanting the cat to sleep against her face as he planned on doing. Chiya was frustrated with the dream she had just went through, it seemed that with every day that went by Earl and Seppuku became more dear to her; now it was to the point where their deaths would be her eternal suffering. _No way am I going back to bed, I might reenter that dream…_

She sat up and began to pet Mauser, who was hoping Chiya would lay back down with him. She sat still with her eyes still widened, despite the fact that she had just woken up. She was left in complete shock, dark dreams were atypical for her to endure. Chiya was fitted in light blue pajamas that she rarely wore. Earl had proposed she wear this so that her normal attire couldn't get stained with blood if her wounds were to reopen.

Chiya exited her room and looked across at Earl's door; even though it was a mere nightmare, she felt the need to see both Earl and Seppuku's faces before she could return to sleep. Chiya moved her hand towards the doorknob of Earl's room, but stopped as soon as she grasped it.

_That's going to be fairly rude of me to just walk in and watch him sleep…_

Despite this thinking, Chiya opened the door and took a step into his room. Her eyes widened on the spot; Earl was still awake, which made the moment especially awkward. Earl was laying in bed eating snacks as he watched television. He looked over at his door surprised to see Chiya standing in her pajamas. Earl lowered his eyebrows and looked away for a moment, then back at her. She did nothing but stare at him in her pajamas.

“A _Guns and Shells_ marathon is on, if you wanna' watch with me…” he proposed.

She was already exposed and caught, so she took no further shame in entering and closing the door behind her, Earl raised both his eyebrows as she closed the door. He made room on the bed for Chiya, but it was to his additional surprise that she approached the couch and collapsed onto it. In the meantime, Earl swallowed some mints to cancel out the odor of alcohol, then proceeded to the couch as well.

Chiya crossed her arms while still shivering from the dream, Earl sat beside her and placed a gentle hand over her shoulder.

“What's wrong, Chi'? Are you in pain?”

The Mysterian continued to hold both her elbows with lowered brows, she looked as though a secret was being suppressed; though in reality she felt mere shame in herself for acting this way over what she believed to be a mere dream.

“I had a bad dream and I can't stop overreacting to it...”

Earl lowered his eyebrows and smiled, “A bad dream? Overreact?” He chuckled and patted her shoulder, “I think we've all overreacted to nightmares before. What was it about, a monster?”

She swallowed and exhaled, “No...” She closed her eyes with a hurt face and shook, “I dreamt that the Bloody Chain killed you and Seppuku, and I was left alone...”

Earl's humored look died on the spot, he instead grunted and sat up straight, “Wha- What?”

“It made me really sad and scared.”

Silence ensued, the Korean continued to stare at her with a puzzled face. “Well, my God, Chiya. That's not an overreaction, that's just a real fear. Certainly a frightening one...”

“But if that were to happen, I need to be tough...”

Earl ran his hand down her arm and blinked a few times, “Yeah, okay, but... there's a- look, I'd be miserable if that happened to you. That's an okay fear to have; fortunately, a fear is all it'll ever be.”

Chiya exhaled again and nodded, “You're right, Earl.” She stood back up and walked to the door without another word to say.

Earl watched her take leave, he cleared his throat and smiled for a moment, then chuckled. Chiya stopped and looked back at him with puckered lips. He soon stopped chuckling and waved farewell to her.

“You... look very cute in those pajamas, by the way.”

Chiya widened her eyes and grunted, then returned a cute smile, “Th- Thanks! I think you look sexy with your jacket off!”

Earl shut his eyes and grunted, Chiya grunted as well. An awkward silence followed Chiya's compliment before she opened the door.

“Um—m, bye!” she yelped.

The Korean remained seated at the couch with a dropped jaw, but he momentarily looked down at his biceps and gave himself a flattering laugh, “A girl called me sexy today.”

 

 

Next, Chiya made her way to Seppuku's office door. She had a good brief talk with Earl, but she wanted to also ensure that Seppuku was alright; not to mention, she desired to speak with him about a few matters. With any luck, a series of talks with Seppuku would flush her mind of the horrid dream she endured.

Without further hesitation, she opened Seppuku's door and took a single step inside. Upon entering, however, her eyes lit up into raging fumes.

“You!” she yelled pointing forward.

Samurai Goroh was sitting in a chair next to Seppuku's desk, Captain Fortuna stood beside him. Goroh simply smirked at Chiya, finding her initial response to seeing him amusing. Seppuku appeared intrigued by the fact that Chiya was awake so late at night; along with this, he was shocked to see Chiya in such a different line of clothing.

“What is _he_ doing here!?” she demanded.

Goroh chuckled at the hostility, Seppuku quirked his mouth at Chiya in a hostile way; he found her desire to interrupt them as obnoxious.

“Why are you up so late, child?” asked Seppuku.

“Bugger off. I'm not a child, and if you must know, I had a scary dream…”

Goroh and Fortuna began to laugh at her reasoning; Chiya glanced away from them in embarrassment. The pirate leader crossed his arms while staring at Chiya with fierceness; she didn't pose much of a threat to anyone while wearing such soft clothing.

“Seppuku, she's so adorable,” Goroh quipped. “Seems unlike you to hire someone like _this_.”

Seppuku rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, “Yeah, well... she can race and shoot.”

Fortuna looked back at Chiya while still laughing in silence, “I like how you painted your toenails.”

Chiya glared at him and lowered her pants slightly so her feet were covered, “You still haven't answered my bloody question...”

Seppuku sat back and sighed, “We were making a transaction before you barged in like a battering ram.” Goroh nodded in agreement and looked over at Chiya, Seppuku placed a grin on his face, “I'm thinking we can trade cash for weapons.”

Chiya stomped her foot down, “B- But he's a criminal!”

Goroh took off his glasses and shook, Chiya was somewhat surprised at how normal Goroh looked without his glasses. He unsheathed his katana and held it down on the ground like a cane.

“Little girl, don't try to play innocent with us,” Chiya glared in immediate response, “We are _all_ criminals; every single one of us here.” Chiya glanced at Seppuku, who was nodding his head in agreement. “I'm a pirate, he's a pirate, Seppuku's an unlawful vigilante, you have a bounty on your head, and even your mechanic, as I've heard, is a criminal in Korea.”

Chiya cringed at his statement about Earl, yet she had nothing to counter him with. Goroh put his glasses back on and shrugged in a proposing way.

“I'm thinking fifty thousand credits,” he said trying to finalize a deal.

Seppuku moaned while scratching his throat, “I don't know, I'm thinking more like forty thousand.”

“Forty-five thousand.”

Seppuku countered this offer as well, “Forty thousand,” he reinstated.

Chiya shook in disapproval at Seppuku, finding his decision to reveal the base to someone like Goroh nothing short of idiotic.

“I'm going back to bed… have fun with your brainless pirate bargaining...”

“Don't forget to check under your bed for monsters,” Seppuku joked.

Chiya disregarded this and walked back to her room. The thought of Goroh being mere meters from her bedroom was disturbing; but nothing could be done about it. With any luck, Chiya could at long last get the sleep she deserved after such a long day.

 

 

 

Chiya had awoken many hours later and was now on with her day, the girl searched the kitchen for a snack. Despite all the events that had just occurred, one thing on Chiya's mind remained to be how and when she would inform Seppuku about her cat. It was inevitable that he would spot Mauser eventually. At any rate, she was alive and couldn't be happier.

Today brought about much energy, for the Mysterian was jumping and spinning around the kitchen with a playful attitude. She grabbed a bag of peanuts and stormed out of the kitchen with a look of glee, it was time to determine what she wanted to do today. First, her eyes went toward Seppuku's office as she contemplated whether she would like to speak with the man again; but then she looked at Earl's door. Doing something with Earl was always a good idea in her mind; however, she ended up with a different idea. She snapped her fingers and set course for the garage.

“I'll go sightseeing today with the Purring Kitten.”

The truth was that Chiya had never left Mute City before, she had no idea what the outskirt of the metropolis would look like. All she knew was that there was Red Canyon—a vast desert-like area that formed a short distance from Mt. Fuji. While Chiya walked to the garage she contemplated whether she would wear anything special when she became an F-Zero racer. _Seppuku has a scarf, visor, and…_ she placed a finger over her puckered lip.

“Oh, and a top hat!” she answered.

Chiya imagined that she would wear nothing very different from what she was wearing now, but a unique appearance was an important part of being an F-Zero racer. _I don't want a suit like the others, and I don't feel like dying my hair…_ The beanie hat would without a doubt serve as an iconic part of her image, but everything else she wore was somewhat bland in appearance. Compared to a character as blue as Captain Falcon, Chiya would stick out as somewhat boring.

Clothing was the least of her concerns, however; for the Grand Prix would bring her back to Mysteria next year, it was possible that she would have to go into hiding once she arrived at her planet, much like Antonio Guster was doing on Sand Ocean. This was a nerve-racking thought to have, but thankfully she could dismiss it—for now.

The girl walked into the garage and was not surprised to see that Earl was present; however, she was surprised by what he was doing.

“You're reading a book?” asked Chiya.

Earl took his eyes off of a page and smiled, “Good evening.” Chiya bent over to try and see the book cover, intrigued that he was doing something other than maintenance. He soon answered her question, “After what happened the other day, I realize that I'm the only person here with even the slightest medical expertise; and I don't know anything about being a doctor. We can't get our hands on health coverage and I know very little about medical procedures.”

Chiya sent him a doubtful smirk, “I don't believe you. I'd be dead if you weren't a doctor of some sort.”

“Admittedly, I'm being serious. I treated you like I would a vehicle, I guess. It's beyond me how I managed to keep you alive. If you start to feel ill, do tell; those bullets could have poisoned you and in that case we need to beg Jody Summer to lend us aid.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows in fear, realizing that Earl in all honesty did lack medical expertise, the fact she survived was nothing short of a miracle.

“Well, you did an excellent job,” she said with a thumbs-up.

Earl took the recognition with pride and looked back down at his book, “I'm just trying to research a bit more on this stuff. I'm only studying wounds involving bullets and shrapnel, though; as I imagine that's what we're most likely to be faced with.” The man chuckled and shook his head, “You know, you'd think that an F-Zero racer like Seppuku could fetch us some basic health care, but no. He's afraid of doctors, so he will never hear out any suggestions on the matter.”

“Wait, Seppuku _could_ get us coverage?”

Earl looked away from his book again and nodded, “Seppuku's an F-Zero racer who now has fans. Don't you think he could scrape in some extra dough that way if he wanted?” Chiya jolted her head up in surprise. “Merchandise, commercials, endorsements, donations; the guy could really fill our pockets if he wanted. Hell, if he did some actual work, he could probably buy us all health care and more.”

While Chiya did have a natural bias toward Earl, even she realized that Earl himself was biased against Seppuku. She couldn't accept everything Earl said here as utter truth, however, it did leave her with the simplest of questions.

“Why wouldn't Seppuku capitalize on his career?” Earl gave her an almost hostile shrug. “Even if he doesn't want money for health care, why wouldn't he do it for the sake of buying new weaponry and such?”

Earl snapped back, “Because Seppuku is an ass who lacks the ability to think critically. My God, if you become an F-Zero racer, you're going to strike rich with your career considering you're not an idiot.”

Suddenly, Seppuku kicked open the door and pointed at Earl with a cold stare.

“You!”

Chiya hid behind Earl in fear, then moved away after realizing that Seppuku wasn't mad at her for once.

The Korean wasn't going to have it today, so he responded in a snappish tone, “Yeah?”

Seppuku approached the two and flailed his arms, “Why the Hell are you reading? The Red Dove needs repairs!”

“I'm working on it, it's going to take quite a while to fix that mess.”

“Not good enough, Bendek! I expected you to have this thing running again shortly after the race, not this long!”

Earl made a sarcastic chuckle and set the book down, “Do you realize how much damage you put on this? You slid an extra mile with this thing. You pretty much scraped the entire bottom clean off the machine; this isn't something that can be magically fixed. This requires reconstruction, not maintenance.”

The Man of Darkness grabbed Earl's book and tossed it aside, “That's not my problem, I pay you to fix my machine so I don't gotta think about it, and I'm thinking that I'll skip out on your pay if you don't clean up the damn act!”

“Act? Act!? You need maintenance done on your brain, dumbass! I just told you, this needs reconstruction!” Before Seppuku could respond, Earl clapped his hands with a glare, “I didn't build this machine, go fetch the maker so that I can have some instruction on how to rebuild this crap!”

“The designer of the Red Dove... well, that's irrelevant. As far as I'm concerned, you're its designer, now!”

“That doesn't even make sense!”

Earl and Seppuku stared at one another with great tension rising, Chiya felt that she was trapped in the conflict, but was ultimately siding with Earl. She raised her finger up at Seppuku with nervousness and prepared to intervene.

“Seppuku, Earl's right; you need to calm down and let him do things his way.”

The Man of Darkness hesitated to respond, but soon shot back a furious look, this sent Chiya into immediate submission and regret.

“Stop defending Bendek all the damn time, his good looks shouldn't be a factor in all your decisions…”

Earl grinned, finding this an unintended compliment, the implication being that Chiya only sided with him because he was good looking. Nevertheless, Chiya shook her head with puckered lips.

“Not really, I mean, Earl's good looking, but he's no Captain Falcon.” Earl closed his eyes, now feeling shot down, “Same goes for Blood Falcon, too. Dr. Stewart is a bit handsome, and maybe Beastman, maybe. I think Earl's somewhere along the lines of Mighty Gazelle, except, I think Mighty Gazelle is kind of cute…”

Earl shook his head and sighed, having been rated lower than a cyborg. He looked back up at Seppuku, “My point, is that repairing the Red Dove is going to be both costly and difficult. Sure, I could just bolt any plating to the bottom of the machine, but that might not be safe if we're talking F-Zero racing.”

Seppuku growled, “I give you all the money you could need to pay for these expenses, why the Hell can't-”

“I guess Michael Chain _could_ be hotter than Earl, but his muscles are a little too big.”

“Chiya, shut up!” demanded Seppuku.

Chiya lowered her head and pouted, Seppuku whipped his head back towards Earl, “Why can't you pay for this?”

The Korean glared, “Because, it's practically money out of my pocket at this point, and God knows you're just going to go wreck this thing again once I fix it, thus leaving me with even less money! I need more money; this is practically free labor!”

“I'm getting _real_ sick of you Bendek, you used to be such a better mechanic... before _she_ came!”

Chiya narrowed her eyes at Seppuku, this was practically an invitation into the argument. Earl widened his eyes in fury.

“No duh! You expect me to concentrate on your machine while you're throwing her into a storm of bullets!?” Earl grasped his forehead while shaking his head, “You're a madman, Seppuku…”

Chiya nodded in agreement, in which Seppuku took offense from; he couldn't stand Chiya's biased opinion of Earl. He had enough.

“Tell me the truth, Flower. Why the Hell are you so hooked with this moron? Need I remind you that it was I who saved you from those two men; I who gave you a home; I who pays you; I who-”

Chiya interrupted, “Earl's not an idiot, you're the idiot! He works much harder than I do, yet, you treat him like a tool. Until I see change, I don't see why I should ever consider siding with you!” Seppuku barred his teeth as she continued, “And while I am very thankful for everything you've done, you can't hold these things over my head. I support Earl because he is a good person.”

Seppuku clenched his fists, “Please, go on…”

Chiya shook her fist, “He would be much better off without you, he served as a combat mechanic in a war, that's a lot braver than what you do!”

It was this sentence that caused Seppuku to stop clenching his fists, for he got a surprised look. Chiya then spotted a fearful face on Earl. Seppuku chuckled at Chiya's argument, having found a weapon somewhere in her words.

“A combat engineer? Please, continue.”

Earl stood up and exhaled while shaking his hands, “That's enough! Let's just walk away from this argument and I'll start working on your machine.”

“Shut up, Bendek. Speak, Mysterian…”

Earl's mouth began to twitch as he stared at Chiya, who now stood tall and unbreakable.

“Earl was a brave soldier who fixed things on the battlefield of Northern Karta.”

“Korea,” Earl corrected. After making the correction, the man grabbed Chiya by the shoulder and gave her a gentle push, “Uh, could you leave Seppuku and I to ourselves? This really is more of a private argument...”

Seppuku shook his head, “No, continue speaking, Flower. I've never heard of this story before.”

Chiya bit her lip while thinking of a continuation to her argument. She soon looked straight into Seppuku's visor, “He saved a lot of lives by keeping things intact, like tanks and cars; he didn't get into any actual fighting.” Seppuku closed his mouth and acted surprised. “He's basically a hero in my eyes, one who doesn't think about killing in a war, rather, he wanted to help his friends survive.”

Seppuku clapped his hands together, “So, from what I'm hearing, Mr. Bendek was just an everyday combat engineer who loved helping however he could, but didn't actually fight on the battlefield.”

Chiya nodded with a challenging look, she believed to have the upper hand on Seppuku; however, she was beginning to fear why he was grinning.

Earl grunted and swallowed, “Uh, well, I might have exaggerated a little bit in that story... mind you, we were up all night watching the base when I told that story.” He gave Seppuku a desperate stare, “You know... when Chiya and I did as you asked to the letter and stood guard...”

The attempt to flatter Seppuku was a miss, he continued, “That's an interesting story he told you; kind of makes you think, doesn't it. Why is such a heroic Korean no longer living amidst his own people? What's he doing here in the Lower City of Japan, Mute City?”

Earl barred his teeth and pushed Seppuku away from the two. Chiya bit on her lip, now realizing that something was about to go very wrong.

“Seppuku…” Earl muttered threateningly.

“All I'm saying is that it's weird. Most war heroes I know would remain home and live out days of glory; family boasting about you, citizens loving you, maybe continue serving the military...” Seppuku pointed at Chiya and nodded, “He's from the city of Busan, you know. Strange that he chose to leave Busan for the 'spectacular' Lower City.”

Earl grabbed his forehead, “For God's sake, man, what do you want from me? I said I'd work on your machine!”

Chiya rubbed her chin and cleared her throat, “I- I don't even care what you have to say, Seppuku.”

Seppuku tilted his fedora down and smirked, “So he didn't mention anything about his role as the ' _Armored Death Bringer'_?”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and glanced away from him, “N- Not quite…”

Earl charged into Seppuku, but was grasped by Seppuku with little effort on his part. Chiya was amazed by Seppuku's abnormal strength, he held Earl up with one hand as though he were a toy. The Korean clawed at his face as the man continued.

“You've been lied to, Flower. He wasn't a combat engineer. Sure, he repaired things, but that was a pastime for him during the war—a hobby, per se…”

Earl was now punching Seppuku, “You bastard!”

Chiya was somewhat trembling now and felt that it would be more appropriate if she let Earl keep what remained of his secret. She couldn't stand seeing Earl so distressed and fired up.

“The real Earl Bendek was a young tank commander. He was your age, 23, and led a famous battalion of tanks during the war, and what he did that July left his reputation completely tarnished. I honestly sometimes wonder if his name really is 'Earl Bendek'.”

Chiya denied this on the spot, “I don't believe you.”

Seppuku growled at her with an intense stare, then dropped Earl onto the ground, “Oh really?”

He charged out of the garage in response, Earl stood up with a glare, knowing where the man was going. Thus, Earl pursued him. Chiya was very lost on what was going on, everybody was mad at each other all of a sudden. She was getting desired answers about Earl, though not in the way she wanted.

Seppuku approached Earl's room and kicked open the door; Earl leapt onto Seppuku before entering, knocking both down onto the ground. Chiya came running into the scene in fright.

“Stop!” she yelled while trying to separate the two. “Let's all just calm down and be friends again, please!”

Seppuku broke away from Earl and leapt into his room, Earl growled as he got up onto his feet and stood alongside Chiya. A moment later, Seppuku returned proudly holding a military visor cap, he slammed the cap onto Earl's head. The Korean sighed and closed his mouth, realizing that it was too late. He would need to accept that Chiya was going to learn the truth about him.

Chiya bit her lip and nodded, “Okay, fine. So he did fight in the war; so what? We've all killed people at this point.”

Seppuku chuckled at her argument, Earl was showing no more intentions of arguing with him; he had surrendered.

“I use this story to blackmail him, but I think I'll just go ahead and piss him off since he always pisses me off…”

Earl dipped his head down and looked away from the two. Seppuku snapped his fingers with joy.

“Five years ago, Earl found himself situated in Manchuria—enemy territory…”

 

 

 

:: Korean Civil War ::

 

A younger Earl stood out of heavy armor, he was wearing his usual brown leather jacket, but had a visor cap on and a few service medals pinned to the jacket. He was swishing some water around in his mouth while gazing at a city under control by the Manchu. In this time, Korea was a unified nation but was given the entire area known as Manchuria, the remainder of the world was unified and known as the _United Powers of Earth_ —a satellite of the Galactic Space Federation. Japan was the only nation along with Korea that remained independent. A large rebel uprising, however, had been formed in Manchuria; they seceded from Korea with the desire to become annexed by the United Powers; the government of Korea was opposed to this, however, as Manchuria had become an iconic part of the new Korean nation.

Several tanks lined up alongside Earl's command tank, he spat out the water and brought up a communication device as the final tanks got in position.

“The Angels of Korea are ready for offensive action. Pull the trigger when you're ready.”

Someone on the device responded, “Negative, Bendek. Due to the high priority present in the city, new orders have been issued to you from command. They now want you to extract back to the twenty-eighth position to avoid a possible catastrophe.”

Earl gasped at his commanding officer, “E- Extract?! Their military minister is right in that city! We can pull the plug on him right here!”

“We cannot confirm that he's in the city based off of that intercepted message, the intercepted message could have been a ruse set up by the rebels to bring us into a trap. Our fear is that there's too much in the city for the Angels of Korea to handle.” Earl's eyes were left spinning in distress. “Besides, we warned you beforehand that this decision might be made; you acknowledged and accepted that you may be asked to extract. Follow orders, sir.”

Earl grunted in anger, they had recently intercepted a message from within the city that one of the major rebel ministers was present  in the city organizing the men for a major defense. The city was surrounded from every direction but the north, leaving the minister with only one escape route. Earl was certain that they could remove him from power if they could pull off an attack, as the enemy had no idea that Earl and his tank battalion were in the vicinity.

“Well, why don't we just surrender while we're at it!?” he shouted into the device.

He shut off the device following the quick tantrum, he was opposed to retreating. His original task was to organize an attack on the city, but was now being told to fall back. Cocky and obsessed with winning, Earl couldn't find any reason to support such a move.

As the disgruntled Korean thought, his tank communicator tugged on his leg and said, “Bendek, the battalion awaits further orders.”

Earl exhaled and nodded, realizing that he would have to acknowledge orders and extract. Earl shook his head in disapproval feeling that they were going to miss a golden opportunity. The man growled and looked up at the city, he was looking at a very large tower in the middle of the city in particular. A sweat was beginning to form over his head; impatient and enraged, he was prepared to do what he felt was necessary to protect his homeland.

“Bring the tower down,” he ordered. Every single operator in his tank looked up at him in utter shock and disgust. Earl was not pleased with his quick decision, as it would kill several citizens, “Load heavy explosive shells and bring down the tower. It'll ensure immediate victory.”

“Commander, what on Earth-”

Earl slammed his fist down, “We _need_ to kill this minister! We've come too far to let him get away; it'll prolong the end of this war and result in more battles, and thus more killing. It's worth killing a few to prevent killing many more.”

“But-”

“That was an order, dammit! We're on a winning streak right now and their morale is low. Let's shatter it and force a Manchurian surrender!”

The tank communicator was trembling at the order, but soon turned his head towards the computer screen to issue the attack order. Earl sighed, believing the tower was where the minister was hiding. The tower was the ideal place to stay, as climbing the building would take very long and would give the rebels many opportunities to protect him. No one would anticipate Korea to level the tower. Earl shook his head again, realizing that he could be jailed for committing such a violent war crime. Many citizens would have to die just to eliminate one person; but Earl believed it to be true that even more citizens would die if the war continued on. Performing such a barbaric action would almost solidify victory for the Korean nation.

“All shells loaded…” the communicator muttered.

Earl began to tremble at the sight of the fine looking city; because of him, the town would become a nightmare within moments. Earl tilted his visor cap and looked up at the tower.

“Fire.”

 

:: Korean Civil War ::

 

 

“All those lives were lost, just to kill one man,” Seppuku explained. “You did kill him, however, and it did play a role in their decision to surrender the war shortly after. So, I commend you to that extent.”

Earl clenched his fists, “It was an idiotic and immoral decision made by an idiotic boy—not a man,” he responded in a deep tone. “I was so impatient, so childish; I made a decision that a mere boy would make in some strategy game. Thousands had to die because of my order; I robbed them of life, and for that I am common garbage.”

Seppuku crossed his arms and nodded, then looked at the motionless Chiya. She seemed to be stunned by the massacre Earl had caused in his story. Soon, Earl chucked his military cap on the ground and held a clenched fist up to Seppuku.

“I'm glad you told that story to Chiya! Because now I'm free, I can leave whenever I want!”

Chiya gasped and reached for him, “No! Don't leave!”

Seppuku grinned, “But you won't…” Earl lowered his fist as soon as he said this. “Who the Hell would hire someone with a background like yours? Who in Asia would hire a terrorist who has spilled as much blood as you?”

Chiya was very disturbed by Earl's background, but was still concentrating on Seppuku with great anger. Seppuku stopped grinning and returned a look of disgust.

“You certainly can't return to Korea, you know, with being a war criminal and all.” Earl continued to stare at him as he picked up his visor cap. “Face it, I own you. Regardless of how I choose to treat you, I will always be the most merciful and accepting person of them all, for at least I let you live here.”

Earl said nothing more; he had lost the argument and was submitting to Seppuku yet again. Seppuku glanced over at Chiya with a serious look.

“What do you think of your little hero, now?” he asked in pride.

Chiya said nothing and remained still. Earl was not daring to look his friend in the eyes, believing that Seppuku had ruined everything between the two.

Both Seppuku and Earl looked up shocked and grunted at what happened next; Chiya responded, but not in a way anyone would expect—she was chuckling.

Seppuku cringed at her, amazed that she would chuckle in such a situation, “What the-”

“Okay, Earl has an imperfection. But you have many more, Seppuku…” The man growled at her as she looked up with a grin, “At least he's human, unlike you…”

Seppuku gasped at this while Earl looked at Chiya with a raised brow. For once, Seppuku was trembling in fear at Chiya. The girl grinned with her teeth revealed.

“You're no human, you're a monster; both physically and emotionally. Maybe that's why you have childlike blood in your body.” Seppuku stepped back, feeling cornered by Chiya. “Earl and I think like humans; but you're certainly far from being a true human. No matter what Earl and I have done in the past, we're humans and can change for the better. But you can't change, because you're not human; or at least you don't act human.”

Seppuku tilted his fedora down and smirked, “Ridiculous, I'm being interrogated by the very girl I rescued...”

Chiya nodded, finally deciding to ask the question she had built up since day one, “Lieutenant Seppuku…” Seppuku quirked his mouth back in fear. “Who are you? What are you? Are you human, a robot, a monster? You badger on about the story of Earl and I, but what about _you_? What's your story?” she demanded with a serious look.

Seppuku remained still, tensions were high and the drama at an extreme level. Chiya had found the strength to view Earl as a changed man and would not hold his past over his head; in this sense, Seppuku had already lost. The Man of Darkness proceeded to grunt at her with nervousness, unable to respond to her question. Soon, he reached down into his pocket and grabbed a generous amount of credits. Chiya raised an eyebrow at him in surprise as he began walking away saying nothing. He handed the money to Earl and walked off without further word on the matter. Seppuku calmly departed into his office and locked the door behind him. Chiya had won the battle.

Earl looked down at the large amount of money, to some extent he did agree with Seppuku that he should be working on the _Red Dove_ a bit more often. F-Zero was no longer on his mind, however. He looked at Chiya with quivering eyes filled with water, both young adults had serious expressions.

“Alright, that's the truth of it. I killed thousands to kill one person...” He swallowed as he prepared to finish his sentence, “How will this change things between... us?”

Chiya bit her lip and looked down, she could tell that Earl was crushed and ashamed, but was trying to hide this with all his might. She tried to think about how this would work if it were switched around, where she was the one who committed the massacre. Earl treasured their friendship very much, she needn't doubt that he would work around such a devastating discovery if she were in his shoes. Chiya nodded at him, having come up with an answer.

“If you could go back in time to that moment and have a second chance, would you have extracted?”

The Korean made a soft gasp, then nodded his head. “I was way too young to be a tank commander; in fact, it's not even that—I'm just not fit for war in general. There's a reason why I don't aid you two in this gang war as much as I could be.” Chiya dropped her arms and listened in awe. “My judgment was lacking and my war exhaustion is what led me to do it. I- I regret every little thing I did and have been praying for mercy ever since that day. The difference between me and a terrorist is that I didn't make that decision out of hate; I love the Manchu, but, I was too obsessed with the idea of minimizing the death toll of the war. By bringing down the tower I hoped to force a surrender and avoid future battles that would lead to military and civilian deaths. Was I right? Probably not...”

“Earl...”

The man rubbed his watery eyes and shook his head, “I recognize and accept that I have done wrong to a significant extent deserving of death. My code of honor tells me to protect three things: My family, my home, and those of whom I love. I can no longer protect my family nor my home; I am left with only one purpose in life. To protect whom I love.”

Chiya bit her lip again and looked around the hallway, and after careful thinking, she nodded and smiled at him, “You're too sweet of a person to do such a thing out of hate. You may have done something very wrong, but at least I know you regret your action.”

Earl looked up at the girl with watery eyes and a small smile, he exhaled as he shoved the visor cap into his jacket pocket, “Thank you so much, Chiya…”

“I agree that perhaps you belong in prison, but...” Chiya lowered her eyelids and sighed, “I just don't think I could let you go there. I need you...”

“As do I...”

Chiya grabbed the man by both hands and exchanged watery stares, “You and I can get through this together. You're a changed man and I know it; I know you would apologize to the Manchu if you had an opportunity.”

“Hopefully, I will one day. It won't justify what I did, nor will it bring back my honor and respect. But it will at least show that I do feel regret and sorrow, unlike the common terrorist. I can only hope that my horrid action has brought about the end of warfare for good. The only individuals from that war that surpass me in terms of evilness would be those who brought me to that city in the first place—the ones who started the war.”

Chiya let go of him and nodded, “I forgive you, and I know others will, too. If it were someone like Seppuku who did such a thing, I wouldn't be as forgiving; but you are not Seppuku. I _know_ you've changed and I don't care about the past; I care about who you've become and who you wish to be. You're sorry, you have regrets, and you have been tearing yourself apart since.”

Earl grasped his forehead and grunted, “...you really don't see what I did wrong, do you?”

“I understand that you did wrong; you were a fool and a horrible person for doing that, but you know what? It was _far worse_ for your leaders to start that war anyway. If you're going to be punished, just let fate decide. Either way, Seppuku and I need you—especially me. Let's turn your life around, instead of ending lives, let's start improving lives; you and I both.”

The Korean breathed in and exhaled, then nodded, “Helping people is all I could really ask for; maybe that's why I choose to help Seppuku down here—because I want to stop the gangs and ensure that everyone gets to live.” He then shook his head, “But if ever I fail to protect you... if you die, I will turn myself in and face judgment. That is my promise.”

The Mysterian smiled, “Well, I guess I better watch my back!” She walked by the man and patted him on the cheek, “I'm going to go sightseeing out of Mute City, would you like to come along?”

Earl was even more surprised that he was invited to accompany her somewhere after such a traumatic discussion. The invitation was enough of a compliment towards him, as it proved to him that she wouldn't let this dark past compromise their friendship.

“Uh, no thanks. I- I'll catch you later, though…” he said with a smile.

Chiya waved farewell as she went down toward the garage. Earl stood still and decided that in return for Chiya's generosity and acceptance, he would go and work hard to patch things up with Seppuku and form a true friendship with him again.

Earl continued to stare at the back of Chiya's head as she walked away. Something was overcoming him as he did so, however, a warm feeling. He couldn't stop himself from smiling at her. Something had now changed between the two; Chiya had been one of the first to understand and accept him for such a war crime. Of all the people he encountered, he never would have imagined that someone like Chiya would accept him. Most would view him as a terrorist, but Chiya viewed him as a flawed person seeking forgiveness. This changed the way he viewed Chiya. She wasn't just a co-worker or friend to him—she was much more.

Earl grinned and nodded as he began walking towards Seppuku's locked door, preparing to patch things up with him.

“…Chiya is one rare catch…”

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, hundreds of Red Star goons stood around a basketball court installed within the Red Star HQ. All of Red Star had gathered around holding assault rifles and rocket launchers. A large Soviet flag hung from the podium with Red Star flags to the sides. Everyone was chatting amongst each other, some flexing their muscles at each other to show off their large bodily features. Moments later, Brock Blaskovitz walked up to the podium with a joyous face. Everyone faced forward after seeing him. Brock began to chuckle as he looked down at the hundreds of gang members.

“Comrades,” he said kicking off the speech. Everyone stomped on the ground at once, leaving a roaring echo throughout the building. “The day is here at last. While the Bloody Chain struggles to maintain an army, we grow by the day…”

The crowd of gangsters cheered and raised their weapons into the air with pride. Brock crossed his arms together and continued, “By the end of today, the Bloody Chain will have been vanquished! The Red Star will assume complete control of the Lower City and our numbers will grow by the thousands!” Everyone waited for Brock to continue his speech before cheering, waiting for a truly glorious moment in the speech, “We will all take to the streets, every one of you; including me. We will scan every inch of this city until no more of Chain's empire remains!”

It was then that everyone began to cheer wildly; some members were firing their guns into the air. Brock flailed his arms in anger, “Let me continue!” Everyone calmed down and allowed him to proceed, “We will give the citizens of the Lower City options; join us in our mission or die...”

He leaned over the podium and slammed his fist down, “If they do not join us, they are useless; but if they support our cause, hand them a weapon. This includes the Bloody Chain, if you capture a soldier, give them the options…”

One man raised his hand, “What about Seppuku and his goons?”

Brock slammed both fists down on the podium, “Slaughter them! We have no room in our union for them!”

“And the Federation?” another member asked.

“Give them the options, but strip them of their possessions, first.”

Brock walked in front of the podium while crossing his arms, “I expect one hundred percent out of all of you. As one, we can achieve victory!”

Everyone cheered as they threw their weapons into the air, Brock gritted his teeth while looking at all of his supporters. He threw up an assault rifle himself, “The day is here, and the moment is now! March! March forward to the streets of Mute City. We either achieve total victory or die as one!”

All of Red Star began to mobilize in the hundreds. There were about eighty hover bikes lined up in rows, several members leapt onto their bikes each equipped with weaponry. Brock stood still grinning at all of his mobilizing men.

 

 

Chiya was just exiting Mute City at that moment, leaving for her sightseeing outside of Mute City. Chiya drove with a look of exhaustion, having gone through such a difficult conversation. The girl had no idea what was about to go down…

 

_…The Red Tide approaches…_


	36. Lap 36/Pre-finale

== Finale =

 

A horrific secret revealed—but one that even Chiya could look past. Earl Bendek is a kindhearted man, aside from his romantic life, who has long aspired to help people. He works with Seppuku in a bid to cleanse the Lower City of corruption, he aids Chiya in fulfilling her dream of becoming an F-Zero, and most importantly, he treats Chiya with the utmost care and respect. The action he had taken years ago that most would deem simply as 'terrorism' was and still is inexcusable; nonetheless, Chiya, Seppuku, and even Bart Lemming believe there is more to gain from allowing Earl freedom. He is a hated figure amongst his home and perhaps even his own family; but he felt sorrow and regret, unlike many other mass murdering criminals of the past. Though an unpopular belief, Chiya and few others were convinced that Earl could offer much more to the world than he could by simply being killed or put in prison. He was already miserable and suffering, but at the same time he could _try_ and apologize for his actions.

In the end, perhaps this was the best sentencing for a man in his particular situation: Exiled, isolated, stripped of honor, and forced to relive the horrors of the past in his mind. Contrary to what many may believe, Earl is not free—he is forever cursed with the burden of his past. He had let so many people down, losing Chiya to unfortunate circumstances would be the final strike in his life. As long as Chiya lived happily, Earl felt that he retained a small bit of purpose. She was the tower he would never let fall.

Earl and Seppuku were now sitting together in the office; it had only been about half an hour since Chiya left to go sightseeing in Red Canyon. Earl was thankful that Chiya accepted him as a changed man after hearing the truth about him. He wanted to repay Chiya by patching things up with Seppuku, as she would be elated to find the two on good terms. Earl was sitting with an awkward feeling, Seppuku had accepted his apology for starting such an argument with him, but naturally was still being looked at in a hostile way.

“What is this, exactly? Are you trying to get some kind of pay raise?” asked Seppuku.

Earl shook his head, “Not at all, I just feel that I provoked the argument.”

Seppuku looked up at the ceiling with doubt, he assumed Earl was trying to get _something_ from him, “You'll have to forgive me for not buying your story.”

Earl sighed, if outright surrendering wasn't going to seal the deal, he would need to simply speak the truth. “Look, to be honest, I just want Chiya to feel at home. Having more arguments like we did back there is going to scare her.”

Seppuku grinned, “I should've known she was behind this...”

Earl resisted the urge to shout back at him, “She didn't set me up to this, I just think she deserves to be happy.”

Seppuku continued to stare at him, but momentarily nodded in approval, “Yes, you seem to be very fond of her…”

Earl widened his eyes, “I don't think- uh…” he rubbed his forehead trying to find the correct words to use, “She isn't…”

“You love her?”

Earl looked up at the man with wide eyes, “L- Love? Chiya?”

“You love her, don't you?”

For a moment Earl wondered if this were a joke, but there was no doubting the realism of the scenario—a romantic bond between Chiya and Earl. With so many times in their friendship where Chiya would stand by him and vice versa, there came a point where the question was necessary to ask. The Korean struggled to answer, however, for a multitude of reasons; primarily because the question was sudden.

The Man of Darkness continued, “The girl can't get enough of you, you can't get enough of her; you want to protect her, she needs protection; and overall, she's the only girl who can tolerate your horrific background.” He snapped his fingers before Earl's face, “I could never stick to one woman for the entirety of my life, but I think you should—with Chiya. Secure her before she goes for someone else.”

The younger man appeared more so surprised than anything. He was left blinking with a look of absolute puzzlement and shock. “Me, and Chiya...” he muttered.

“Isn't it true, Bendek? Doesn't being with her bring you joy.”

Earl raised his chin and made a soft chuckle, “Being with Chiya... has brought about some of the happiest feelings in years.”

“Exactly, and besides, who else are you holding out for? That one girl who's cool with what you did in the war?”

“I don't know anyone who's-”

“That's my point...”

The Korean sat back in his chair while kicking his foot, “Huh...”

Seppuku awaited an official response on the matter, however, in all honesty he did not care so much; he just wanted to speak his mind. Earl puckered his lips and breathed in before giving the lieutenant an almost scared look.

“Saddle up with Chiya...” He looked away and cupped a fist over his mouth, “I'd have to give up going on dates with girls...”

“So that you can go on many dates with _a_ girl.”

Earl closed his eyes and nodded, “I admit, this has crossed my mind in the past. Only, I couldn't have guessed that she would be so accepting of my past.” The more he thought about it, the more the idea of a relationship grew. “Her unique skin color, golden hair, friendly attitude, interest in engines... she really is someone I wouldn't mind being around more often.”

“And I've got the perfect idea for a first date,” Earl raised his eyebrow with an open mind. “I buy you the materials needed for the Red Dove, and you two work on it together.”

A grunt was made, and finally Earl dipped his head to blush; he felt as though he was displaying a weakness of some sort by admitting interest, “Jeez, fixing up an F-Zero machine alongside your girlfriend...” He made a cute smirk and shrugged, “I dare say, that's the most romantic thing I could ever ask for.”

Seppuku grinned and nodded in approval. If things went as he suggested, everyone would end up happy. Seppuku would have a fixed machine, Chiya and Earl would be a happy couple, and a final well-executed plan could leave both gangs on the verge of collapse. He wasn't going to push Earl into doing this, but he would leave him to think about the proposal.

“Bendek, I do respect your determination to keep Flower safe and happy. Especially since she's a criminal as well…”

Earl lowered his eyebrows with suspicion. She now knew about Earl's past, but hers was yet to be revealed. “What did she do, anyway?”

“Not a clue. The apparent crime or crimes she committed are locked on her Mysterian citizen records, not the Federation records. The fact she has a bounty on her, though, must mean she's hiding something really juicy!” Seppuku said while rubbing his hands together.

Earl shook his hands in disapproval and moved the conversation forward, “How about we go do some target practice?”

Seppuku raised his body upward with a surprised face, “Interesting, I rarely see you holding a gun, nowadays. I'd like to see if you're any worse than Flower at shooting…”

 

 

 

Chiya stood upon a cliff in Red Canyon, the sun was already starting to set. She was astonished by how massive Mute City looked from the outskirts, the metropolis appeared endless from her perspective. At this very moment, all seemed well, except the girl remained stunned by the massive argument she and her companions had just gotten into. Be that as it may, Chiya felt almost good about what had happened. _No more worrying about Earl being a bad guy; I know the worst about him now and I accept this…_ The only thing she somewhat regretted was how she brought up the insult claiming that Seppuku was inhuman; using what his medical records said about him as a weapon was bad regardless of the situation. Nonetheless, the girl felt that things could be fixed and made for the better; she didn't hate Seppuku at all, she was only defending Earl at the time, whom she had and still does have more respect for.

The Mysterian stood up and walked toward the _Purring Kitten_ , she had a smile on her face as she finally began to review how her life had indeed changed for the better by joining in with Seppuku. By joining him, she had gained a quality friend, an F-Zero machine, much more money, food, a better place to stay, and free access to the F-Zero races. The smile was let go of as she thought of the bad things as well; she had gotten shot, committed illegal acts, killed human beings, and gained enemies. There was no doubting in her mind that she was better off with Seppuku and Earl, but had to wonder if Jody was correct in warning her to leave the two behind.

Chiya wasn't sightseeing very much, but more so, thinking about life. Red Canyon was a quiet place to be this time of the day, an excellent place for thinking. With strong feelings, Jody was cast out of her mind as though she were an enemy; she denied Jody's warning that pain would ensue if she stuck around with Earl and Seppuku.

“Nothing bad will happen, she'll see…”

 

 

 

Earl lowered his smoking handgun, having fired at the targets multiple times; Seppuku was observing from behind.

“Well, I'll offer you this much. You shoot a Hell lot better than Flower.”

Earl smirked at the compliment, “I find that a little surprising, she fires her gun much more often than I do.”

“Fortunately, I don't really need you for combat, I need you for maintenance.”

Earl fake chuckled at his statement, “So you _do_ think I'm a good mechanic, then.”

“I think you're a good mechanic, but you lose damn focus so much nowadays.” Earl still refrained from answering the man in anger, as he wanted to retain good relations with him. “If you just fixed the Red Dove up quickly you'd have all the time in the world to do other things. Yeah, Flower wants to be around you; so can't you making fixing my machine a team project?”

Earl took a moment to think about this. If he would only fix the _Red Dove_ up right away, Seppuku wouldn't be as mad that he was slacking off to do other things. With this in mind, he agreed with Seppuku.

“I'll try and get it all fixed by the end of this week. I just need _you_ to understand that the bottom layer of the body is really damaged; this is going to be more difficult to fix.”

“That's the beauty of it, the Grand Prix is over. All I need is a machine that can run, so I can hunt. I don't need it in optimal shape, just a working shape.”

Earl snapped his fingers, “Done deal, I'll work my hardest to get it fixed this week.” Seppuku acknowledged his word with an approving nod, for Earl was now wanting to please Seppuku. Earl turned towards the shooting range preparing to shoot again. “While on the topic of F-Zero and Chiya, when are we getting that combat module for her, anyways?”

“Whenever I learn the whereabouts of one. In other words, once I feel like snatching a module from Red Star or the Bloody Chain.”

Earl resumed firing at the targets and did not miss any of his shots, unlike Chiya; however, he wasn't making vital hits, like Chiya. Seppuku growled at him before pulling out his rifle, he stretched the long barrel past Earl's head, then fired perfect shots. The Korean was left standing in shock, amazed by the man's skill with a weapon. There was no struggle following any of her perfect shots; it was as if Seppuku could shoot targets as though it were his line of work. After mutilating a target, the Man of Darkness set his rifle aside and pointed forward.

“I want to see more of _that_ from both of you…”

Earl grunted, knowing that he could never make shots as precise; Seppuku had clear superiority over Chiya and Earl when it came to shooting. Still trying to maximize his relations with Seppuku, Earl clapped his hands.

“Well done.”

Seppuku grinned and put away his rifle, “Aside from racing and crime fighting, improving my accuracy has always been a hobby of mine.” After saying this, a loud and unsettling noise sounded from outside the base; the two recognized the sound as that of a hover bike, but dismissed it. “Which is why I'll be the one assassinating a gang leader in my new plan. I won't miss.”

Earl lowered his eyebrows in fear as many more bikes could be heard outside; Seppuku didn't seem to be regarding this. “Aren't those bikes concerning you?”

Seppuku shook his head, “Of course not.” Suddenly, the sound of explosions could be heard in a somewhat consistent pattern, both men grunted and jolted upward. “Okay, _now_ I'm concerned.”

The two ran out of the shooting range together, it was obvious that the explosions were linked to the passing hover bikes, but the fact that this was happening right in front of the base was surprising to both of them. The entire base shook as the explosions continued; Earl was beginning to panic under the initial presumption that the base was under attack.

The Korean barred his teeth and shouted, “What the Hell's going on!?”

Meanwhile, Seppuku worked on opening a hatch in the ceiling of his office.

“Gang conflict, obviously; but something isn't right...”

As soon as Seppuku opened the hatch, a rope ladder dropped down onto the floor. Seppuku began to climb with rising interest in the situation, Earl began to climb after him. Both were afraid that Chiya may have been wrong, that perhaps Michael Chain _did_ know where their base was after all. After reaching the base's rooftop, Seppuku stood motionless; his coat and scarf were blowing along with the air as he looked up at the sky. Earl lifted himself out of the hatch and onto the roof, the first thing he noticed was that Seppuku appeared to be frozen. Earl looked in his direction and could see smoke filling the air. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Smoke and the sound of gunfire was raging throughout the entire Lower City. Seppuku approached the ledge of the base and looked down onto the streets with a raised brow. Earl ran up beside him with a frantic face like no other, Seppuku nodded as several Red Star bikes rushed down the street in a blitzkrieg fashion; it was obvious to Seppuku what was going on, but not to Earl.

“What's happening?”

Seppuku grabbed the trim of his fedora in disbelief, but was not expressing any fear, “Blaskovitz has declared war…”

“War? Against who!?”

“Mute City.”

Earl stepped back and gasped, Red Star was determined to take complete control of the Lower City. Blaskovitz had sent out every Red Star member he had available to exterminate the Bloody Chain, but even more, he aspired to occupy the entire Lower City; as a result, Mute City will have become divided under two separate leaderships.

Seppuku remained still but soon brought his rifle down into his hands. Earl jumped in horror as a munition exploded a mere block away. Seppuku looked down at the charging Red Star goons, most of which ran with assault rifles. The men were kicking down doors in their search for any living beings to either kill or recruit as Red Star conscripts.

“What the Hell do we do!?” panicked Earl.

Many hover bikes and gangsters moved down this specific street, but failed to notice Seppuku's tall figure standing from above. The Man of Darkness then looked up into the air as smoke and fireballs from explosions covered the sky. It was during this moment that the man cracked a sadistic grin and chuckled.

“What a beautiful sight…” Earl gasped at his unusual comment. “The sweet sound of crime, the air reeks with the smell of destruction, and the sight an already destroyed section of Mute City becoming even more destroyed. It's a beautiful thing, really.”

“What the- Are you insane!?”

Seppuku crossed his arms, “For a time, I thought the dream of living in a world filled with nothing but wrongdoers that I can unleash my fury upon was but a fantasy. I was wrong, because now it's happening...” Earl took a step forward with gritted teeth, the tall man continued. “Jody knew that there was a pathogen down in the Lower City, but rather than containing and suppressing it, she allowed it to grow. Now it's everywhere and the entire city is paying the price.” His grin became larger as he proceeded to wiggle his fingers in the air, “Streets crumble, buildings burn, and no one holding a gun is innocent. I may do just as I desire, Bendek.”

“D- Desire?”

“Jody the bat cannot stop me at this point. I am free to destroy, kill, and _liberate_ all of which I desire. Blaskovitz and his men want a war, I will shed no tear in killing every last one of them. Those foolish zealots of Red Star have made their decision, and they will find that it was a very deadly decision...”

A Bloody Chain machine had suddenly driven past Seppuku's base while trying to escape a squad of Red Star bikers. It was moments later blown to pieces by bullets and rockets. Seppuku's coat and scarf was blown back by the shock of the explosion, Earl's hair blew across his face.

“The beauty of annihilation, it is truly inconceivable…”

Earl lowered his eyebrows in fear of Seppuku's dark nature and inner desires. Seppuku soon turned towards Earl with a sudden change of mood, now appearing much more serious.

“Get back inside, we're going to have company any minute now…”

 

 

 

As chaos came to exist in the Lower City, a happy Chiya continued driving around the cliffs of Red Canyon. It was during her trip that she now realize it was never the idea of getting away from Mute City that interested her, but rather, it was that she desired to drive the _Purring Kitten_ on open terrain. Comfort was found in believing that no matter what problems she may encounter with or between Seppuku and Earl could be resolved through work. Patching things up with Seppuku when she got back would be the proper thing to do, even if she believed that the argument they recently had was his fault alone.

Chiya was unsure of what her purpose in life was, but her determination to become an F-Zero racer was the one thing she stood with to the end. She never gave up, even when living a homeless life on the streets. Her bright aspiration kept a smile on her face as she drove, something about today seemed like a new chapter in her life; as if something had changed. Perhaps it was the argument against Seppuku that she had won at long last; or perhaps it was the revelation of Earl's past—a major load off her mind. She did not know, but the feeling of relief and joy was real, nonetheless.

She stopped her machine on the edge of a cliff, having spotted something red sticking out of the ground that intrigued her. The girl opened her cockpit and squinted, trying to see what it was; it stuck out amongst all things because the ground was a very bland shade of brown. Chiya blinked at the red object for a few moments before deciding to get out and investigate the interest.

Chiya watched as her own shadow followed, then came to an immediate stop in surprise upon examining the object in question. A lone red flower stuck out from the ground; its beauty was unmatched from anything else in sight. She smiled while looking at the red petals of the flower—only three surrounded the white bud. After mere moments of thinking, Chiya concluded that each petal represented a member of the organization: Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku—three persons brought together by a bud.

“Beautiful…” she muttered at the flower.

With gentle fingers, Chiya proceeded to dig up the flower after having deciding that she wanted it. She was careful not to damage any of the roots and was holding the soil still in her hands. Looking down at the flower again, she raised an eyebrow and hummed. _Something about this flower seems familiar…_ Seconds after thinking this, the petals began to tremble along with a powerful gust of wind; loud noises were coming from the sky followed by violent gusts of wind.

The Mysterian widened her eyes and stood up, “What the-”

She gazed up toward the sky and could see hundreds of ships flying away from Mute City, several were going over her head. Chiya remained standing with her jaw dropped, it was then that a siren could be heard coming all the way from Mute City. Full of fright and shock, Chiya lowered her head and looked towards Mute City.

Very dark smoke was visible all over the metropolis, all of which derived from the Lower City. Cars and trucks could be seen driving away from the metropolis in massive numbers; many were driving down the fields rather than the road for a quicker escape. Chiya jumped and gasped as several flashes occurred within Mute City; it was now becoming clear to Chiya that Mute City was under attack.

Chiya shook her head in disbelief, for she had only just left the metropolis a short time ago; it now looked like an evacuation was being enforced on the account of all the fleeing citizens.

Chiya spun around to face the _Purring Kitten_ and panicked, “Earl, Seppuku!”

 

 

 

Jody Summer was sitting at her desk in the Galactic Federation HQ as a Lower City war raged, she had people calling her number nonstop. With a forehead of sweat, she spoke on the phone while pacing back and forth..

“I assure you that we're doing all we can to contain the outbreak in the Lower City. We advise you to either evacuate Mute City or lock your doors, and arm yourself with any weapon you may have if you choose the latter.” She hung up on the person and picked up another call, but gave the same response upon hearing their report, “Please remain calm, the Federation is doing everything we can to contain the situation in the Lower City. Please evacuate Mute City if possible or lock all doors with any weapon you may have…”

Dr. Stewart ran out of the elevator and into Jody's office at that moment with a distressed face, “Jody, the Lower City is completely without power right now and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are stuck fighting gangster with guerrilla training!”

“I know, I know; we had to cut all power to the Lower City in an attempt to hold off this conflict. The JSDF will have to hold their own; I have no authority over them.”

Next, Dr. Clash ran into the room as well and reported, “The Lower City police department has been destroyed and looted by rocket propelled launchers. The Lower City officers are disorganized and fleeing!”

Jody clenched her fist and slammed it down on her desk, “Dammit! I thought Seppuku had this under control!”

Stewart grabbed her by the shoulder pad, “Jody, we are the protectors of Mute City, not the former lieutenant!”

The chief commander face palmed and groaned, “The JSDF are hesitating on sending in heavy armor. I _hate_ this situation; if I were in charge of Japan's military I'd have the Lower City filled to the brim with tanks!”

“We cannot call in Federation reserves?” asked Clash.

“Already done, a division from China is gearing up for combat. Unfortunately, we could be waiting another hour before they get here.”

Jody turned around and bit on her finger as she gazed down upon the smoke that was blanketing the Lower City. She shook her head under pressure, at a loss for words. She had no idea what to do; the Red Star attack was going just as Brock had planned—at this rate he would lock down the Lower City under his control and create a city state. From there, he could unite the Lower City population by force and create a nation to be feared. Red Star had enough rocket launchers to hold off armored assaults on the Lower City; Jody had to crush Red Star now or face a possible war.

Stewart looked down at the streets alongside Jody, Mute City was witnessing one of its largest attacks in history, even if it wasn't aimed at the Upper City. By statistics, the Japanese military and Galactic Space Federation should be able to handle this situation; but by the current looks of the situation, this wasn't true.

The chief commander barred her teeth and shook, “This is a nightmare…”

 

 

 

Seppuku and Earl were taking cover behind objects inside the hallway of the base, there were no lights since the Federation had disabled all power to the Lower City. Earl had pulled a bed out of his room and stacked it up like cover in the middle of the hallway. There were a few Red Star corpses by the lobby entrance; the base was already under assault along with every other building in the Lower City. No building was being hit harder than the Bloody Chain hideout.

It was imperative that no gang member besieging Seppuku's base survived, as they would report their findings to Brock and thus uncover Seppuku's hidden base. Red Star's tactic of going door to door finding citizens to implement into their cause was finding much success—though few of the conscripts knew how to use weaponry; extra difficulty was added with the fact that dumbbells were tied to each assault rifle.

Seppuku sat behind a drawer Earl had taken out of his room and was aiming towards the lobby entrance, preparing for any sudden gang members to appear.

Earl looked through the iron sight of his handgun and lectured, “This bed isn't going to protect us very well from bullets, you know.”

“It's the best we have to work with, so stop griping and keep your gun ready.”

Earl nodded and waited in silence for another wave of gangsters to appear. Seppuku stood still with his rifle raised, unlike Earl, who had a nervous tremble. The Korean's forehead had become sweaty from both fighting and moving furniture around as cover. He swallowed down some fear and proceeded to sit behind the bed with his handgun; there was an escalating doubt of survival in the man's head.

Seppuku gave Earl a disapproving look, viewing his decision to hide as an act of cowardice; but regardless, had to respect Earl's limitations as a human being—this including natural fear of death.

Whatever thoughts both men were having had come to an immediate stop, however, as a slam from the base's entrance door could be heard followed by stampeding troops. Earl got back on his knees and aimed towards the door leading to the lobby.

The Man of Darkness flexed his hand toward the door and instructed, “Try and shoot anyone with a rocket launcher, first,” Seppuku instructed.

Earl acknowledged the order with a nod, for this was true. They could perhaps survive a bullet or two, but not a high explosive munition.

Mere seconds later, the hallway door was kicked open and Red Star gangsters flushed in, fortunately unaware of the defensive line ahead. Seppuku and Earl took the first shots in their direction and tore through the assault—a pitch perfect first strike. As one goon fell down dead, another came up from behind and pulled up a rocket launcher.

“Rocket!” Earl shouted.

A bright projectile was fired towards them, both men ducked in cover. Regardless, Earl continued to fire at the exposed gangsters as the rocket missed and went by them. Instead of hitting them, the door to Seppuku's office was hit and blown away along with the wall. Seppuku was hit in the head by a brick, knocking his fedora clean off his head.

“God damn!” Seppuku spun around and took one final shot at a less muscular gangster, taking him down without a struggle.

Earl looked up and exhaled in relief at all of the fallen Red Star grunts, “Seppuku, are you alright?”

Seppuku put his hat back on with a face now covered with dust from the debris, “I'm good, but kind of pissed about my office door.”

“Forget about it; let's just focus on staying alive!”

“Agreed.”

After reorganizing their morale and strength, Earl jumped over his bed and ran towards the downed bodies.

Seppuku launched himself up and shouted, “What are you doing? Get the Hell back here!”

“Just stay there and keep me covered.”

Seppuku nodded, trusting his only ally. Earl approached the pile of bodies and slammed the door shut. He began to place bodies against the door in an attempt to add difficulty to opening it. Seppuku shook his head in disapproval, knowing that a few bodies couldn't keep Red Star from getting through the door. Earl then grabbed an assault rifle off the ground which had a dumbbell tied to the barrel. Earl lifted the weapon up, but found that it was too heavy; he dropped it and panted.

“Maybe I do need to work out more…” he muttered aloud.

His next idea was to fire the handgun at the chain connecting the gun and weight, the bullet broke the dumbbell off the chain. At last, Seppuku nodded in approval at what Earl was doing; acquiring an assault rifle would offer much more help than a handgun in such a desperate situation. Along with the assault rifle, he shoved several rifle magazines down his pants before running behind cover again. Earl got behind the bed again and held up his new assault rifle.

“Good work, Bendek.”

Earl smirked, “Thanks, so what's the objective? How do we win this fight?”

“Push our cover forward, eventually we can station ourselves in the lobby, where we can have control over the garage and front door.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

As the two spoke, a Red Star member rammed through the door and knocked over the bodies that Earl had set up. The gangster was mowed down by bullets without a fight, however, as Earl fired consistent shots at him along with Seppuku's crystal clear accuracy. Earl was grinding his teeth as he sniffed the smoke of his assault rifle. Seppuku glanced over at Earl, intrigued by his sudden adrenaline.

“That smell brings you back, doesn't it?” Seppuku asked with a slight grin.

Earl nodded, “The machine gun of my command tank made this an unforgettable scent.”

The two exchanged brief grins before proceeding to push their cover forward, now moving up the hallway without Seppuku. Earl's immense fear had now been set aside as he pushed, one hand was dedicated to holding his assault rifle.

Seppuku glanced over at Earl as they continued moving, “You worried about Flower?”

Earl shrugged while keeping his attention on the door, “No.” Seppuku reacted in shock look, having envisioned a much different answer from him. “Chiya's a brighter girl than you may think. If she's out of the Lower City, I'm certain she'll be smart and stay away.”

 “You don't think she'll try coming home?”

“If she's a fool, yeah. There's no point coming back and I think she understands that. You and I just need to weather out this storm and regroup with her after the fight.”

“Indeed.”

Earl exhaled after stopping the bed a short distance from the door, “I'm confident Chiya's alright. We just need to meet her expectations and stick through this ordeal.”

 

 

 

 

Chiya drove the _Purring Kitten_ down the highway at maximum speed as she dodged several oncoming vehicles. Chiya's instincts told her that Earl and Seppuku were in trouble, and she wanted to be with them through every struggle. If they died, she died too; this was the general thinking she had. She could see more and more flashes from explosions followed by emerging smoke as she drove towards the metropolis. The expanding layer of smoke above the city was bringing horrid thoughts into her head. Images of her Mysterian hometown of Engelland being bombed was all Chiya could think about, she could only wonder if this was the same type of situation.

“Please be okay…” Chiya wished aloud.

The girl was praying that she hadn't seen the last of Earl and Seppuku. One thing Chiya knew for a fact was that Seppuku and Earl were aware of the situation, the city sirens roaring was a clear indication of the severity of the situation.

The Mysterian ducked her head and gasped as she had almost been hit by a car driving on the wrong lane; the car was rushing at full speed away from Mute City. _Just because Mute City is turning to rubble doesn't mean you can ignore basic driving regulations..!_ Chiya was shaking her head in anger, if she had decided against going on her short trip she would have been present at the base alongside Earl and Seppuku. The mystery of what exactly was going on remained a mystery, but the idea that Brock or Michael Chain was behind this had already crossed her mind a few times.

Chiya had moments later entered the outskirts of Mute City, there were Federation officers directing traffic out of Mute City. Chiya was the only person trying to enter Mute City, thus giving her all the room she needed to maintain a fast speed. One of the officers turned his head in awe upon spotting the _Purring Kitten_ driving towards them at almost 1,000 km/h. At this point, Chiya was having difficulty keeping her hair from moving as it waved back the faster she drove. Chiya was making great timing, but this didn't help her with the fear that Earl and Seppuku may already be hurt, if not dead. The biggest problem by far was that she would have to maneuver around an army of Red Star gangsters in order to get home.

All was going smoothly up until a car stopped in her lane, Chiya screamed and hit her brakes in response. Doing so caused her to slide toward the traffic, but was able to stop a short distance from the cars. Chiya looked over at the person who was in her lane, then realized that there were about ten other cars blocking the way. They were carelessly trying to get out of Mute City by using the oncoming lane.

With rage, Chiya pounded her fists down in a tantrum, “Bloody Hell, bugger off you wankers!”

 

 

Earl was firing his assault rifle towards gangsters that were behind the lobby door. Seppuku and Earl had almost pushed their defenses all the way up the hallway, but now faced opponents from within the lobby itself. Seppuku worked on reloading his rifle while Earl suppressed the group with automatic fire. What confused both Earl and Seppuku was that there were much scrawnier individuals fighting alongside the muscular men—these were some of many conscripts that now fought for the gang.

Seppuku finished reloading and continued to fight the group, but now Earl had to reload. Seppuku concentrated on the door as he awaited one of the gangsters to take a shot at him, Earl soon held up his reloaded weapon. There was a sudden lack of combat, which Seppuku assumed was Red Star taking a break to develop a plan to flank the two. Earl glanced over at Seppuku in search of an answer to the predicament. Seppuku looked down at the bodies they were taking cover near; a rocket launcher was on the ground beside him.

“Ah, to Hell with it…” Seppuku muttered before grabbing the launcher. He inserted a rocket into the tube and aimed it at the lobby door, “I wanted to refurnish this place, anyways…”

He fired the rocket forward and Earl leaped down while holding his head. The door and wall were blown away, and so Seppuku sprung up and fired at the shocked and exposed gangsters. Taking each one down was simple because of the shock ensuing the explosion.

After the blood bath, Earl stood up and looked over at Seppuku, who was rubbing sweat off his forehead. The Man of Darkness gave a thumbs-up before rushing into the lobby. Earl got up and chased him inside while reloading his assault rifle.

Seppuku stood still once in the lobby. A room that was once dirty was now filled with debris and dust. Earl regrouped with him and looked around the room in complete shock. The man was so shot back by the destruction that he had muttered words of astonishment in his Korean language.

The base now fell silent, but the sound of chaos remained outside. Earl noticed that a light was shining down on Seppuku's head, looking up at the ceiling revealed that the explosion had damaged the roof of the building and thus left a hole. Earl shook his head in amazement at what was going on around them before looking at Seppuku again, who remained standing still with a look of disgust.

“I imagine we'll be moving to a new base after this is over,” Earl proposed.

Seppuku looked around the room, which was now stained with blood, littered with bullets, and wrecked by explosions. He shook his head and looked back, he could now see his office all the way from the lobby, as both doors in the hallway had been blown to pieces.

Seppuku soon answered, “I'll think about it…”

Earl gave positive acknowledgment by nodding, “If not; Chiya and I will be here to help repair this heap.”

Seppuku finally took steps forward and looked at the entrance door. It was here that he rubbed his chin, planning out their next move. Meanwhile, Earl approached the display cases and held up the bronze F-Zero trophy Seppuku had won—it was destroyed.

“Dang, they took the time to break your trophy…”

The Man of Darkness dismissed this as insignificant, “Whatever, let's secure the door and get to the garage.”

“The garage?”

“There's only one entry point, excluding the hidden door, and a lot of cover. Most importantly, we can take your car and _try_ to escape if things start to get hairy.”

Earl nodded and brought his assault rifle up again, “Very well, let's move.”

 

 

 

 

Brock Blaskovitz was behind a cluster of hover bikes, including his own; _Stalin's Might_. He was firing at a group of Bloody Chain gangsters taking cover behind their crashed vehicles. It was almost typical that Brock, of all Red Star gangsters, was laying down the most effective fire. Meanwhile, the three Bloody Chain gangsters were becoming surrounded by other Red Star gangsters. Brock smirked as the engagement favored Red Star without any doubt. Soon, the man lowered his assault rifle and jumped up onto his the hover bike, he reached toward his enemies and proceeded to speak.

“Bloody Chain! I give you two options!” The gang violence ceased and the three Bloody Chain goons stood behind their vehicles trembling in fear. The Russian held up an iron fist and answered, “You can join us and fight the Bloody Chain, or perish far before your time!”

The three members exchanged glances, but it didn't take long for two of the three to hold up their weapons and begin moving towards Brock. The gang leader smirked, having admitted more Bloody Chain members into Red Star as a final sign of mercy. Brock approached the two who were prepared to betray the Bloody Chain and join Red Star.

“What of your friend?” he asked.

Neither man responded, for they were unsure of where the other member's loyalty stood.

Brock walked in front of the two and motioned a hand signal; ensuing this, several rockets rained down on the lone Bloody Chain gangster. The explosions lit up the vehicles that he was using for cover thus leaving a much bigger explosion. The two gang members began to tremble at the sight of the explosion, they were now thankful that they had chosen to join Red Star over the latter option, for the lone Bloody Chain member had been vaporized by rockets.

“Blaskovitz! Blaskovitz!”

Brock turned with skepticism and found a fellow Red Star member charge towards him with anxiousness. Brock crossed his arms and nodded, “Captain, we have made glorious progress on the front; what news have you brought me?”

“Michael Chain's hideout has been leveled to the ground, it is a mere pile of rubble.” Brock closed his eyes and nodded again with a prideful grin. “But Michael Chain is nowhere to be seen.”

The happy moment was cut short for Brock with this being said; he rubbed his chin in a contemptuous manner. “This war is not over until Michael Chain's head is within my grasp!” The leader turned to face the other direction, then grumbled, “He must be hiding, somewhere…”

“We've only been having difficulties with one structure. So far, almost twenty men have entered ~~—~~ not a single one has given a report.”

Brock widened his eyes at this, then returned this news with a grin, “Take me there, on the double…”

“Yes, sir!”

 

 

Chiya was tapping her hand over the steering wheel with impatience, still waiting for an opening in lanes. Her lane was being blocked by drivers trying to get out of the city—by going down the oncoming lane. There was a possibility that more cars were getting behind the others in her lane, thus holding up the progress even more. The Mysterian puffed her cheeks and growled, then made the tantrum-led decision to begin pushing through the center of traffic. The traffic officer dropped his jaw in response.

“Hey!” he yelled running towards the _Purring Kitten_.

The _Purring Kitten_ forced its way through all of the oncoming cars by pushing them aside. Drivers in the back could see what was happening and thus began to back away from her. They were allowing her to once again pick up speed as they reversed out of her path. The officer stopped chasing her after she broke away from all of the other drivers, realizing that there was no point in trying to stop an F-Zero machine.

Chiya now raced down the main streets of Mute City, there were less vehicles driving around the Upper City since most of them huddled up at the traffic jam.

The source of the smoke was now without doubt deriving from the Lower City, this caused Chiya to widen her eyes and block a gasp. _This is really, really, bad…_ The Lower City was blanketed with smoke, thus leaving a very dark and gloomy environment. The Upper City still had a visible sky that allowed what was left of the sun to shine down. Chiya looked at the Falcon House in hopes that perhaps Earl was present there; but it was closed. She then looked up at the Federation HQ and proceeded to wonder what role Jody and her team may be playing in the developing situation.

Chiya was coming close to the slope that led to the Lower City, she just had to move down the street with great pace. Up ahead was something that put a chill down her spine. There were flashing lights and roadblocks blocking the slope. She would need to find a way past this obstacle.

She hit the brakes to avoid crashing into the blockade. She was now driving under the smoke, thus her environment was darkening as she came closer to the Lower City. She found that the Mute City National Guard was stationed at the blockade, along with armored vehicles with heavy weapons on standby. There were Japanese soldiers of the JSDF standing around as well. Of everyone present, there was one person Chiya could recognize standing around the blockade ~~—~~ Jody Summer.

Just about everyone acknowledged Chiya's presence with awe except Jody, who wasn't surprised in the slightest to see the Mysterian here. Chiya jumped out of the _Purring Kitten_ and ran towards her with an adrenaline rush. The chief commander remained still with a blank expression, knowing what Chiya was going to ask of her.

“What's going on!?” Chiya demanded.

“Red Star has commenced a full invasion of the Lower City; their leader desires immediate control of the Lower City.”

Chiya took a step back and gasped, “What!? How is that possible? We've been hitting Red Star nonstop!”

“Clearly, not enough.” A moment of silence ensued, Jody continued to explain, “Every inch of the Lower City is a battlefield right now. I implore that you evacuate Mute City until this is resolved by our friendly forces present down there.”

Chiya stomped her foot down, “No! I need to help my friends!”

Jody looked back at Dr. Stewart, another Federation officer present, then back at Chiya, “I'm not letting you through; to go down there is imminent suicide.”

“I don't care…” she hissed back.

Jody crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, “I warned you; you should have left Seppuku's gang while you still could…” Chiya barred her teeth and clenched her fists, “Now you're prepared to brainlessly throw your life away just so you can continue to live a life that you do not deserve.”

“Don't deserve!?”

“You can take that in as either a compliment or insult; the choice is yours.”

Despite the clear intimidation Jody imposed, Chiya did not back down. “Why are you guys not down there helping!?”

“There's nothing the Federation can do at this point in time; we assure you, however, the situation is under our tight control.”

Chiya shook her head in amazement, left with a dropped jaw of disbelief, “Seppuku was right…” Jody narrowed her eyes once more, “The Federation is broken! If this were the Upper City in trouble you would get right on it, but you treat the Lower City as if it doesn't even matter! You couldn't care less what happens to all those homeless-”

Jody fought back, “Idiot! The Lower City is comprised of more than seven million citizens; all of which Red Star has been conscripting. We can only win using patience and heavy weaponry.”

Regardless of the presented logic, Chiya continued to stomp her foot in objection, “I want to go in there! I don't care if there's a billion of the bloody bastards fighting, I want to go home and be with my friends!”

 “That's enough, citizen. I order you to leave this checkpoint immediately or suffer the consequences!”

Chiya glared at Jody in disgust, but couldn't respond to this in any other way. She decided to back away towards the _Purring Kitten_ , preparing to depart. Jody offered her approval of Chiya's decision with a nod, she saw this as evidence that the Federation still had more control over her than Seppuku.

Chiya strapped herself into the _Purring Kitten_ with her eyes beginning to water. Images of Earl and Seppuku were stuck in her mind. She closed her eyes and sighed; now realizing that her nightmare had perhaps been true, only she wouldn't be present to fall alongside her friends. Instead, she would be alone again, just as she was before meeting Seppuku. It hadn't been long since she left the base, but now she had to bear with the thought that the argument she had with Earl and Seppuku was the last thing she would ever do with the two. The final memory would be of Seppuku retreating into his office with rage and Earl almost breaking down into tears after revealing his past.

“No!”

She turned on the ignition and engaged the boosters before accelerating. Jody widened her eyes in as Chiya boosted right through the blockade, she drove through the armored vehicles and sent them spinning around like mere toys. The weapon operators of the armored vehicles reacted by taking aim at the _Purring Kitten_ , preparing to fry her machine.

“No, stop!” Jody ordered.

Jody approached the slope and watched the _Purring Kitten_ descend into the Lower City, Dr. Stewart approached her from behind and hummed.

“Should we pursue her?”

Jody looked at the quick moving F-Zero machine while retaining her shocked expression. Chiya had defied orders from the Galactic Federation and arguably attacked a military unit ~~—~~ two big felonies—but her love for Earl and Seppuku seemed to be more powerful than the law.

“No…” Jody muttered. She shook her head while thinking, then turned towards Stewart. She gulped and bit her lip, “Return to the HQ and get everyone in their F-Zero machines. Let's send in the true tanks!”

 

 

 

 

Seppuku and Earl now found themselves stationed in the garage, as desired. Earl still had plenty of ammunition, but Seppuku was running low; he kept the large box of ammo for his weapon in his office. They had blocked the main entrance to the base to the best of their ability, but it was still knocked back by Red Star. Seppuku and Earl had decided to remain in the garage since it had the most cover and contained Earl's car, in case they wanted to make one desperate attempt to escape.

Earl was fighting off three more Red Star gangsters that were trying to enter the garage from the lobby; Seppuku was trying to reload his weapon. Bullets began to whiz past Earl's head, many close encounters had occurred at this point. Seppuku slammed the magazine back into his rifle and made a ballsy move by charging towards the door. He kicked the door shut in the face of the gangsters and pushed against it. Seppuku pulled a rocket out of his pocket, but had no launcher to fire it off with. He sat the rocket down next to the door and rushed back behind cover.

The door was kicked open again and the two gangsters revealed themselves. Earl began to fire at the explosive, thus lighting up the door with yet another explosion. The three gangsters were blown away, leaving Seppuku to finish them off by gunfire.

Earl sat back down exhausted afterwards, expecting that Seppuku would finish them off himself. After laying down the gangsters, Seppuku lowered his rifle and exhaled; they had fended off yet another wave of opposition. Seppuku grabbed what remained of the door and placed it in front of the damage.

“By the end of this, I'm going to have made a door salesman very rich…”

Earl let out a chuckle, “Well, that hole in the wall is going to complicate things greatly…”

“We're out of options, the garage remains our best place for survival…”

The Korean shrugged with his assault rifle in one hand, “The sad truth of it is, I'm sure this is only the beginning. Red Star _does_ have nearly a thousand active members.”

Seppuku answered this with, “We have well over a thousand bullets...”

“Now _that's_ the spirit!” Earl said with a sudden boost of morale.

So many shots fired, so many gangsters killed; despite all the two had already been through, a common question continued to float above their heads, the question of where Chiya was. This question had been answered, however, as the secret garage door began to open. Both Earl and Seppuku were sent into a state of shock by this, both men dropped down for cover; Earl was elated to find the dull gray F-Zero machine of Chiya Flower floating behind the door.

Earl beamed and jerked his fist up, “Yes!”

The _Purring Kitten_ drove into the garage; Chiya hadn't even turned off the engine before leaping out of the cockpit, she ran to Earl and Seppuku. Earl had hoped for the Mysterian to remain in the Upper City where she'd be safe; be that as it may, he was relieved to have confirmation that she was alive. Seppuku, however, did not appear as excited—he was expressing great fright.

“Flower! What the Hell are you doing!?”

Chiya stopped and raised an eyebrow, not understanding what she had done wrong,

“I- I came back to help you-”

“For God's sake, Chiya, close the damn door!” shouted Seppuku.

The mistake was simple, she had forgotten to close the secret door behind her. The three faced the opened garage door in disbelief, it was almost inevitable on a day like this—Brock Blaskovitz was watching from atop the _Stalin's Might_ in shock. He was seeing Seppuku and his team in their natural habitat—something he longed to discover.

The lieutenant barred his teeth and shouted, “No!”

Seppuku to the door with his rifle trained at Brock. Seppuku's base was uncovered and an irate Man of Darkness was making a wild dash for the kill. Brock, of course, knew best not to combat someone so dangerous, so he kicked his hover bike and drove away from the base while signaling for his men to retreat alongside him. Seppuku fired blank shots in the direction of the _Stalin's Might_ , but the gang leader had already gotten out of sight.

With this sequence over with, Seppuku dropped his rifle while trembling; he clenched his fists and turned his head toward Chiya. The Mysterian Blue eyes locked with Seppuku's visor, she took steps away from the tall man in fear.

“Flower, you idiot!” Seppuku yelled as he charged towards Chiya.

Chiya backed into a wall and grunted as her ally came right for her. Earl prepared to intervene in what looked like would become a physical fight between the two. Seppuku ran straight into Chiya and forced her against the wall; her thin neck was at his hand's mercy. Chiya began to hyperventilate with a scared look as Seppuku fought the urge to throttle her.

“You killed us, Chiya! Blaskovitz now knows exactly where we operate!” he shouted into her face.

“I'm sorry! It was an accident!”

He shook in disapproval and brought a finger up, “Shut the Hell up! If he makes it back to his base with this information, we're screwed! He'll issue out orders to have this location swarmed by hundreds of his minions!” Chiya's eyes were watering by both his lecture and what she had done, “It's over! You just crushed any chance of us surviving this conflict, idiot!”

“I- I just wanted to help...” she whimpered.

Seppuku tossed Chiya onto the floor with little care, “Well, thanks.”

There was little to no plausible forgiveness to be found when it came to Seppuku—not unless she could reverse what had been done. He wanted nothing more to do with her, and so he began to march towards his rifle that was left on the ground. The young Flower remained on the floor as Earl came to her immediate aid. Alas, Seppuku had already gotten to her, and so she could only shake her head in disappointment with herself.

“Chiya-”

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I should have never even come to Earth!” Earl was trying to grab her head and keep her calm, but was failing to keep a grasp on her rapidly shaking head. “I should've just stayed on Mysteria and face trial; now I've doomed us all!”

“Chiya…” he spoke in solemn tone.

“I'm sorry, I'm just so sorry!”

Earl cleared his throat, still trying to get a word out to her, “Chiya, you-”

“Why couldn't I have just died on the streets the other day!? I came back to save my friends, not hurt them!”

Chiya wouldn't stop panicking; her head was still shaking left to right in quick motions. At last, Earl grabbed both sides of her head to force her still. Chiya's eyes sparkled like sapphire as she gazed into his eyes. She had the look as if she were about to cry, but was still managing to hold it together. Making eye contact with Earl only made Chiya's heart drop, she couldn't bear with herself for compromising the location of their base. In a very heartwarming scene, Earl rubbed the back of her head with passion while patting her back with the other.

“Chiya, you came back. That's all I care about...”

The Mysterian's mouth was quivering at his calm statement, she then shut her eyes and whimpered, “I- I'm so sorry, Earl; I didn't mean to bring harm...”

“Chiya, there's no way you could have prevented that; it was unexpected and unavoidable…”

Still, the girl tried to shake her head, but was being forced still by Earl; she soon gave up and dropped her arms down. Though she didn't want to admit it, there was a comforting feeling when in his arms. Seppuku, meanwhile, stared at the two as Chiya had for the most part collapsed into Earl's arms. Seppuku knew little about true friendship, but even he knew that this was the best friendship he had ever seen.

Chiya allowed Earl to continue toying around with her hair as the two stood together in silence; it was by far the most heartwarming moment she had ever shared with Earl. She opened her eyes into slits and continued to whimper sounds.

Earl spoke in a calm voice, “I promise, you just being here has made things much better, regardless of what happened…”

The Mysterian wrapped her fingers around his arm, “I don't care about what you did in the war, I just want to be happy and live with you... and Seppuku...”

“I'd love for that...”

The Mysterian swallowed her emotions and nodded. _But that's impossible unless someone acts..._ Chiya broke away from his grasp and took a deep breath as she looked back up at him.

“I'm going after him.”

Earl gasped at her and glared, “Wha- What? The Hell you are!”

“I messed up, and only I can fix this now…”

Earl rejected this by stomping, “I'm not going to let you do this, Chiya. I almost lost you once, I'll be damned if I ever allow you to be in such a dangerous position again!”

Chiya looked up at him with only one eye visible, for her bangs covered the other, “Is that some kind of order?”

The Korean grunted at her question and hesitated to answer; he then sighed and looked down, “I can't stop you, b- but you can't go. I can't-”

“Someone needs to stop Blockdice from relaying the attack order,” Chiya looked over at Seppuku, who was staring at the two; she then looked back into Earl's eyes and concluded, “Looks like I'm fit for the job...”

Earl had a discontent face as his mouth twitched. “I really want you to reconsider...”

The two came together again in a move that was initiated by Chiya. She wrapped both her hands around his torso and offered a bright smile. Earl became lost in her eyes and was left with a dropped jaw. She rubbed her right hand over his back while tilting her head ever so slightly.

“Earl, I...” She swallowed with rosy cheeks, “I... _really_ like you...”

The man took to her words with an immediate response, “I really like you, too.”

Chiya continued to stare into his eyes with joy, but also puzzlement. The heartwarming exchange of words were set up, and a possible romance ready to fire; it was her call whether or not to go for it. The girl moved her lips left and right a few times with a nervous face, Earl blinked at her a few times before glancing down at her colorless lips. It was almost obvious what had to happen, yet, Chiya decided to take a safer route—a retreat, this time.

“Which is why you need to let me go. You've given me so many chances at happiness, now I need to return the favor—or at least try to.”

Earl moved one hand up to her shoulder, “Yeah, but...”

“Trust me, Earl...”

Many fearful thoughts entered Earl's head; he couldn't bear the thought of losing Chiya after having almost lost her mere days ago. But deep inside he knew something had to be done, and with the _Red Dove_ out of commission, Chiya was the only person with a machine capable of catching Brock.

“Alright, Chiya, alright...” He breathed in and made a heavy exhale, “Just please be careful...”

She climbed aboard the _Purring Kitten_ and looked back at Earl, then winked.

“Of course I'll be careful. And if not, I trust that Seppuku will avenge me by crushing that man's skull.”

Seppuku grinned, “You know me so well.”

Earl looked up at her and nodded, Seppuku continued to grin, seeing that Chiya intended on making things right. With a final wave, the _Purring Kitten_ backed out of the garage and took to the streets, en route to the Red Star HQ. Earl approached Seppuku's side and shivered.

“Think she'll do it?”

Seppuku crossed his arms as he closed the garage door, “Honestly, I think she just might…”

 

 

 

Chiya had a look of determination on her face as she raced down the streets to intercept Brock Blaskovitz. The sky was still polluted with smoke, making the moment as dark and depressing as possible. Everywhere along the city was fire, destroyed vehicles, and dead bodies. She pushed the maximum speed of her machine up, but was remaining cautious of the engine's temperature. The deeper she came into the city, the more gangsters and Japanese soldiers could be seen. Many armored assault vehicles of the JSDF could be found combating both gangs. For the most part, it was the military that seemed to be on top of the situation; but that didn't stop the fact that Brock had to be kept from revealing Seppuku's base to the world.

After turning around a block, Chiya was met with several oncoming bullets, rooftop and ground-based gangsters were firing at her.

“Shoot…” she muttered aloud.

Bullets struck the _Purring Kitten,_ but struggled to penetrate the machine's armor _._ Even so, Chiya ducked her head to avoid plausible contact with the bullets. The gangsters were unable to get accurate shots at the cockpit of her machine, each bullet hit either the side or rear of the machine. Chiya bobbed her head upon spotting several flashes from rooftops; she was now being fired at by rocket launchers.

She began to swerve in an attempt to dodge the rockets; most rockets blew up in front of her machine. The smoke of the explosions left the opposition wondering if Chiya had perished, for she disappeared into the thick smoke and fire. The _Purring Kitten_ came blasting out of the smoke with the use of her boosters, this brought her an immediate escape from the rockets. Chiya was still driving with a look of determination, she was set on stopping Brock at all costs—nothing would change her mind. Chiya was once again being fired at by rifles, but no bullets came close to the cockpit.

Looking into her side view mirror, Chiya gasped, “Uh oh!”

Chiya soon found herself being chased by several Red Star members on hover bikes. The drivers were planning on taking her out with submachine guns, however, these bikes were not as fast as an F-Zero machine. Still, Chiya looked back at the approaching bikes and gritted her teeth in fear. Without a combat module she would not be able to attack the bikes.

Amid the escalating situation, a miracle had come at last for the young Mysterian. Both bikes had been knocked away from her by the _White Cat_ and _Golden Fox_ ; Jody and Dr. Stewart were backing her up out of the blue. Chiya gasped in awe at the sight of the two, but was more surprised to find that two additional F-Zero machines ensued: The _Crazy Bear_ and _Great Star_. The _Great Star_ was a purple machine driven by an obese android named Mr. EAD. Chiya was confused as to what they were doing, all four machines were following in a row formation. A short time later, she realized what was going on—this was a convoy; the Federation was here to help her.

Chiya beamed in joy having such expert racers behind her for support, each machine had combat modules installed. Distracted in the moment, Chiya all of a sudden found herself almost crashing into another machine that was rushing down the road—the _Wild Boar_. The girl gasped and looked back at Michael Chain's machine; there was no doubting the Bloody Chain had fallen, the question on her mind was whether or not Michael Chain remained a threat.

The group of F-Zero machines underwent more gunfire at the hands of Red Star gangsters, most of them were firing at the _Purring Kitten—_ the apparent pack leader. Moments later, the _Great Star_ spun around to pursue the _Wild Boar_. Chiya offered a nod of approval toward this decision.

The Mysterian squinted at the corner of the upcoming block, she had just seen a few hover bikes round the corner. The exact same turn would have to be made in order to reach the Red Star HQ. Chiya looked at the turn with a stuck out tongue. A dash to the side brought her onto the curb as she moved around the building. The other F-Zero machines took more time getting around the corner, for they were still respecting traffic laws. Chiya looked far up ahead and grunted, the _Stalin's Might_ was about 90 meters ahead of her followed by two bodyguard bikers. The guards were immediate on sending bullets her way, many of which flew through the window of her machine.

“Uh oh!”

The closest ally she had with her at the moment was Jody, who would with any luck share the heat of action with Chiya. As a reaction to the shooting, Chiya decided that she would boost one more time, which would bring her up against Brock and his bodyguards. The _Purring Kitten_ blasted toward the bikes at a colossal spike in speed. The bullets were now going through her cockpit at a much faster rate, for she was speeding into oncoming bullets. The issue Chiya was presented with was that she could barely see where she was driving with so many bullets coming at her. Jody surprised Chiya by boosting once as well, thus coming up on Chiya's side.

Both guards soon came to a mutual situation—the final bullet had been fired, and they were driving hover bikes. The two exchanged glances, wondering how to combat F-Zero machines without weaponry.

One guard looked over at Brock and asked, “Are we going to let them chase us all the way-”

Before being able to finish, the guard had been knocked clean off his bike by the _Purring Kitten_ ; the other guard was, in a similar fashion, beat off the street by an attack from the _White Cat_. Brock shook his head in anger, for he was now driving alone. The _Stalin's Might_ was an F-Zero machine as well in a way, despite being a hover bike, meaning it had a combat module and could defend itself if needed.

Brock was relieved to find that more bikers were trying to regroup with him from behind the Federation racers. Chiya was struggling in her decision of what to do with Brock; she couldn't get neck and neck with him since he had a combat module, which would put her at risk of being side attacked. The girl continued to contemplate how she could take him out without getting close to him, so she decided to take an unexpected action.

Chiya opened her cockpit window and pulled out a handgun. Brock could see what Chiya was doing and began to panic, she took aim with her non-dominant hand. For the first time during this conflict, Chiya fired her gun. The armor piercing bullets flew toward the _Stalin's Might_ , but her shots were full of inaccuracy—simple holes were put in his machine.

In a hostile tone, Chiya ordered, “Stay still…”

The Red Star HQ was dead ahead, she had to take the perfect shot before he could get back to the base. If she failed, the chase would lead inside the heart of Red Star. Another bullet was sent forward, this one hit the bike's seat, but missed his body. Next, she shot the rear of his machine, this caused some sparks to fly out from the back, but nothing more.

“Come on!”

She shot again, this time hitting the exposed gas tank of his bike. It was a horrible miss, yet, played a purposeful role. The _Stalin's Might_ began to leave a trail of fire, caused from the leaking gas, as he rushed toward the base. Chiya lowered her gun with two raised brows, Brock dropped his jaw in a moment of fear; he could foresee his machine starting on fire.

To resolve this hazard, Brock kicked his foot down on the gas tank, thus beating it off of his bike. The tank was propelled into the air behind him before exploding. The _Golden Fox_ had been almost hit by the gas tank, but narrowly escaped the explosion unharmed. _Stalin's Might_ was now out of control and beginning to lose its hovering capability. Brock stomped his foot on the ground a few times in an attempt to stop the bike, but to no avail. Chiya began to slow down, along with the others, as they neared the base. Moments later, the _Stalin's Might_ was scraping the ground and slid down the street before hitting a curb. The curb collision caused the man to launch off his bike and hit the wall of the building; regardless, he found the immediate strength to get on his feet and flee.

Chiya leapt out of her machine after turning it off and initiated an on foot pursuit. Jody jumped out of the _White Cat_ and reached out toward her, “Chiya, wait!”

Chiya disregarded the call and pursued Brock with her handgun, taking the chase right into the Red Star HQ.

Before Jody could chase after her, Dr. Stewart grabbed her by the shoulder, “Jody…”

She turned to face him, then grunted as many Red Star bikers rushed toward the cluster of F-Zero machines. The chief commander gritted her teeth and brought up a personal sidearm, Stewart did so as well.

“Clash, call in backup,” she cocked her gun back and took cover behind the _White Cat_ , “Immediately.”

 

 

 

Chiya was chasing Brock down the hallways of his base, no Red Star members were present, for they were ordered to march onto the streets of the Lower City. Brock sprinted at a fast speed while panicking, for he was without a gun; Chiya had one but was not going to waste bullets on him until she had him cornered.

During the chase, Brock turned his head and shouted, “Search yourself, woman. You fight amongst the corrupt!” The Mysterian ignored the comment and kept her eyes locked on the man. “I offer the Lower City unity, money, strength; all of which the Federation refuses us.”

A boiled Flower took a shot at him in response, the bullet was a complete miss—but ricocheted off the walls around him. Out of desperation, Brock threw himself into an elevator and pressed a button; Chiya ran up to the elevator, but he had grabbed the doors and forced them to close. Chiya fired her gun at the elevator multiple times and left holes at the door. She caught a glimpse of Brock through the holes as he began to go up. Chiya gritted her teeth and stomped.

“Bloody coward!”

She turned and found the nearby stairway, she assumed he was going to go as high up as possible to buy himself time. After sprinting through the door, she dropped her arms with a surprised frown. The amount of stairs was beyond intimidating. Her fear was that she would be exhausted by the time she reaches the top floor.

“I'm already desperate for some water…”

 

 

 

Brock had moments later exited the elevator and was almost to the roof of the structure; he didn't have a clear destination, just an objective to lose Chiya. Brock jumped upon hearing footsteps, fearing that Chiya had somehow beat him to the top floor. This was not the case, however, rather it was a member of Red Star, who had an assault rifle in hand.

“Boss?”

“Seppuku's girl is in the building; take care of her!”

The gang member nodded, but was at that moment mowed down by several bullets. Chiya had just come through the stairway door. Brock grunted and picked up the dead gangster's assault rifle, then proceeded to fire in her direction as he backed away toward another door. Chiya dashed around the corner of the hallway as bullets sprayed around her; she was in a clear predicament, now. She knew Brock was only meters away from her, even closer than the targets in Seppuku's base.

 _Come on then, just like Seppuku's been teaching me…_ she thought as she held her handgun up.

Brock bit down on his lip while reloading his rifle, meanwhile he explained, “I will recreate the Berlin Wall and divide Mute City; we the people of the Lower City must decide our own fate—this includes you. The Federation must release what they cannot care for.” Chiya narrowed her eyes while in a deep thought. “The Lower City is a dying animal, woman; only I can bring this city out from the darkness. My method of doing so may seem aggressive, but it will transform this part of the city into a paradise for the people.”

Chiya turned around the corner and took seconds to train her gun at him; she then fired. The girl knelt behind cover again after taking the shot; she had succeeded in shooting the man, but not where she envisioned.

Brock looked at his assault rifle, which was now destroyed by her gunshot. He widened his eyes at this and backed up toward the door.

Now Chiya offered her thoughts, “Oppressive government will only prolong our trip for success; I of all people know this, having lived on an oppressive planet all my life.” Brock continued to back away, but was intrigued. “The only reason the Federation can't help develop this part of the city is because of the terrorists you've brought here. No sane person would come to the Lower City voluntarily with corrupt goons like you in the way.”

Brock blinked once, then ran out onto a balcony with nothing to say. Chiya looked around the corner with a raised brow, no blood could be seen in the area where he had been standing. Looking down at the floor, she found the assault rifle he had been holding.

She approached the shattered weapon, then discovered that she had destroyed the chamber. If Brock had been holding a smaller weapon, she would have hit him straight in the chest. Chiya reloaded her weapon and made sure that her magazine was full before confronting Brock. She looked out the door, which was leading straight to the roof outside of the base. _This is it…_ Chiya thought as she took a step out the door.

 

 

Brock was running around the roof looking under several tiles for something. He was grinding his teeth while doing so, knowing that Chiya would close in on him soon. He lifted up a tile and found a shiny object underneath, this gave him a grin. Chiya came charging straight at him and threw her gun in front of her eyes in preparation to fire straight as his head. All did not go as planned, however, as the two suddenly found each other at gunpoint. Brock was holding a very long-barreled revolver. Chiya gulped while holding her gun still. Brock smirked at her, impressed by her determination to see him dead.

“You always were trouble, for both Red Star and the Bloody Chain!” Brock acknowledged.

“You've been nothing but trouble for everyone in Mute City; kill me if you can, but I'm not letting you harm my friends… or my cat…”

Brock lowered his eyebrows, “I was always true to my word; I would have let you join my gang, perhaps even represent Red Star in the Grand Prix…” Chiya showed much disinterest in what he had to say, “But for some reason, you persist on staying with that weak lieutenant…”

Chiya grinned, “That weak lieutenant trained me, and now I have the leader of Red Star at gunpoint…”

“As do I with you…”

Chiya's hair blew in the air as she bit her lip, she wasn't quite sure how to get out of this situation without getting shot. Brock appeared fearless, he believed that he still had the advantage over her.

“What will it be, little woman? If your shot fails to tame me, I will shoot you with my dying breath…” Chiya's eyes began to tremble in fear, “I've trained for these kinds of situations, and no matter where you hit me, I will have shot you…”

Chiya lowered her gun a slight bit and was no longer aiming at his head. Chiya affirmed his statement with a nod, understanding that he spoke the truth.

“You know just as well as I do that no matter what happens…” He looked right into Chiya's eyes in an attempt to get inside her head, “Neither of us are coming out of this unharmed…”

Chiya narrowed her eyes in frustration, she had to concentrate on his finger just as much as he did on hers. As soon as either of their fingers moved, the other would likely fire.

“One must die; maybe two, if we both hit each other in the head.”

Chiya could suddenly feel as though Seppuku were standing beside her, his intimidating powers surging right through her veins. Chiya put on a grin to Brock's surprise, then nodded.

“I'll bet that I can get out of this without a scratch...”

Brock raised his eyebrows, “A foolish bet…”

Chiya knew that she would be risking a lot by firing. No matter what happened, she would go down honoring the desire of her friends to survive. She would rather die trying to save them, for both had already saved her.

The sounds of continuing war surrounded them, but these two were silent. She looked at Brock with a nervous face, understanding that what she was about to do was, perhaps, suicide by honor—or 'seppuku _'_. Without further hesitation, Chiya pulled the trigger on the Russian, her ensuing scream was quick and sharp like a whistle. A single shot was all Chiya made, but Brock was unable to make one of his own. The man pushed down on his trigger in a cold panic, but nothing was occurring.

“Wh- What?”

Chiya tilted her head and smirked at him. Brock had not been shot a single time by Chiya, rather, his gun took the bullet.

“…impossible…” he muttered.

Everything from the barrel to the chamber had been blown off of his revolver, effectively making it useless. Two times in a row Chiya had disarmed Brock, rather than kill him; this time it was her risky intention to have done so. Chiya now aimed her handgun straight for his forehead. She was not gloating or smiling at her accomplishment, she looked on at the defeated gangster with a look of disgust.

Brock began to step away from her, coming closer to the edge of the roof. He looked down and found that he could step back no further, it was clear to him that Chiya intended on taking him out Hollywood style.

The gang leader turned his head back around and looked her in the eyes, “Go on, do it. Put an end to my leadership and revert the Lower City back into a homeless wasteland…” Chiya allowed for her hair to blow across her face dramatically; in the end, Brock had discovered the location of Seppuku's base, but would be unable to use this information against them. “I've cheated death, I should have died centuries ago, anyways!”

“I don't want to kill you, Brock. I really don't...” The Russian snickered at her and shook in disapproval. “I'd like to think that all people can be redeemed, but I think you're lost.”

“Lost?” he scoffed.

She nodded, “You're so lost in winning and fulfilling your ambitions that you've lost a sense of morality. If I were to let you go, you wouldn't learn; you'd just keep trying to kill and conquer.”

Brock stomped his foot down and shook a fist at her, “That is because power and unity requires sacrifice! People die now so that the future generations may prosper...”

“Murder, rape, drugs, are part of that mandatory sacrifice?” Brock lowered his eyebrows with lowered brows. Chiya shook her head in disgust, “You defeated the Bloody Chain, trashed our home, destroyed innocent homes, killed innocent lives, and left the people of Mute City cowering in fear. Are you satisfied with your accomplishments? Is this the Red Star dream you've always envisioned?”

Despite the situation at hand, Brock remained strong on his beliefs. Full of arrogance and simpleminded behavior, he responded, “Mute City would have been better off in my hands...”

Chiya shook her head and sighed, “Brock Blackmatter…”

“It is Blaskovitz! Blask-o-vitz!”

“Allow me to bid farewell in your accustomed language…”  Brock raised an eyebrow, surprised that his enemy knew any Russian. “Ofe weedershan!”

Brock shook his head, “First of all, that is not Russian; secondly, it is 'auf wieder-”

Before he could finish, Chiya launched a bullet through his eye with one powerful blast of her gun. He was sent straight off the building and plummeted down onto the street. Chiya watched as his body fell to the ground, moments later he lay motionless on the ground—a threat removed at last.

Moments later, she looked away from the body and gazed back at all of the Federation F-Zero machines. Military cars and armored vehicles now began to roll down the streets. Chiya continued to stand over the edge and looked up toward the sky; the explosions and gunfire continued, and the smoke of destruction continued to fill the air. She wasn't doubting that everything would be okay by day's end.

With a mission completed with perfection, the Mysterian holstered her handgun and began walking towards the door. Now she had to regroup with her companions.

 

 

 

Chiya ventured through the Red Star HQ with caution for the final time and was now back at the entrance. Despite Brock being dead, she had to stay vigilant until the military could dispose of all remaining combatants. She opened the door of the base and made her way toward the F-Zero machines. There she found Jody, Stewart, and Clash standing outside along with military personnel. Chiya approached the three officers with caution, now fearing that she may be arrested for going through the police blockade.

“Chiya…” Jody greeted.

As soon as Chiya stepped up to Jody, another two armored vehicles came riding down the street towards them. Chiya was shocked to find Seppuku and Earl hanging onto the side of one vehicle. They were getting a ride to the HQ. Chiya beamed at the sudden reunion she was having, everything was turning out exactly as she could have hoped. The two ran up to Chiya, Jody responded to this reunion with a somewhat happy face.

“Report,” Seppuku demanded.

Chiya clenched her fists and kicked both feet together, “I confronted Blackdice on the rooftop.”

“I presume he's dead?”

Chiya took a few moments to respond, but soon nodded, “Dead.”

Seppuku grinned at her, pleased by her accomplishment. The Man of Darkness then held his hand out toward her; this made Chiya jump and look away, expecting it to be some random punch. This was far from the truth, he was offering her a handshake. Chiya looked back down at his hand in shock before grasping it. The two proceeded to shake.

The man tipped his hat to her, “I'm sorry for getting rough on you, Chiya. It was imperative that our base remain a secret.”

 _An apology..!?_ Chiya thought in amazement. “No problem…” _Now I know this is a happy ending…_ she concluded with a smile.

Jody now stepped forward and cleared her throat, “The military is retaking the Lower City as we speak; most of Red Star is hiding inside buildings for cover.”

Seppuku punched her shoulder, “I'll hand it to you, Jody; looks like ending this gang war ended up being a team effort.”

Jody acknowledged the credit with a nod, “I suppose it was.”

Earl approached the three and waved his hand, “Be that as it may, Red Star might have returned had their leader escaped the city. Take it from me when I say, a good leader knows how to survive.” Everyone gave Earl a puzzled look. “With Chiya having dealt with Brock, we don't have to worry about Red Star reviving itself.”

The three looked at Chiya, making her turn red from shyness. Jody and Seppuku nodded at each other while looking at the young woman.

“Alright, I guess a reward is in order, then…” Jody said while shrugging.

Chiya puckered her lips in excitement, “Do I get a big shiny medal?”

Jody chuckled, “Perhaps, but... what's one thing you would like? I'll use part of the Grand Prix prize money to pay for whatever it is.”

Earl widened his eyes in disbelief at Chiya's many opportunities, Seppuku was even holding his chest in shock by the offer. Jody had one billion credits to spend, so whatever Chiya asked for would be no problem. Chiya tapped her finger on her puckered lip while thinking.

The Korean bumped himself against her and proposed, “…could have a private bowling alley installed in the base…”

Seppuku punched his arm in response, “Shut up, Bendek. She's not buying us a bowling alley, that wouldn't be as cost effective as, say, oh, for example…“ Seppuku pointed upward with a quivering smile, “A golden Mix-XV assassin rifle with retractable bipod...”

Chiya snapped her fingers, “I know!” Everyone looked at her in anticipation for her requested reward, “I'll take a simple combat module for my F-Zero machine!” Earl and Seppuku both seemed content with her choice.

Jody shook her head, “Pick something else…”

“Wha- What?”

“I can get you a combat module right now without paying.” Jody stepped away from Chiya, “Stewart, Clash!” The two men gave her their attention, Jody then pointed at the _Stalin's Might._ “One combat module for the young lady, ASAP!” she ordered.

The two nodded at her and rushed towards the disabled hover bike, which contained all F-Zero components. Chiya smiled at the two as they began to tear apart the machine. Chiya nodded and turned back towards Jody.

“Then all I want is maintenance to be performed on our base.”

Seppuku landed his fist over his palm in appreciation, “Good call, Flower!”

Jody nodded, “Very well. I will cover all the expenses needed to repair your secret base...”

 

 

 

Meanwhile, by Brock's body, the silhouette of a tall man made his appearance. He chuckled over the body of Brock; his eye had been shot out by Chiya and the fall delivered death.

The purple glove of the man poked the thick arm of the dead bodybuilder, “Truly, a living tank...”

Blood Falcon knelt down beside his body while continuing to rub his hand over Brock's bicep. The clone's grin widened while looking over the corpse.

“Come, human… Your journey has not ended; only a chapter...”

Blood Falcon walked off with the massive corpse in his arms; he disappeared into a dark alley, where the narrow headlights of the _Blood Hawk_ turned on.

 

 

 

A few minutes passed before Stewart and Clash returned with a red glowing component—the combat module. Chiya beamed with absolute excitement, the final piece of her F-Zero machine had been acquired at last.

“This is what you wanted?” asked Jody.

“Yes, yes it is!”

The chief commander nodded, “Then, might I expect a new opponent next winter?”

Chiya shot back a challenging face, “Definitely, but I plan on using the combat module only for self-defense, or against villains like Blood Falcon.”

Jody hummed and nodded her head, “Very good. Perhaps, I misjudged you... _and_ Seppuku.”

Seppuku chuckled, “Damn right you did…”

Chiya now held the combat module in her hands, with this she would be able to do various attacks with her machine. It was interesting to the whole Seppuku team that Chiya received the combat module at the _end_ of the gang war; for this simple machine part could have gotten her out of various situations in the past. Chiya was stunned, lost in joy knowing that everything was resolved and that she would finally have a completed F-Zero machine.

“What will you do now, Chiya?” asked Jody.

Chiya lowered the combat module and looked up toward the sky. Mute City still looked like Hell as fire surrounded the city, craters were left from explosions, and even gunfire continued to go off. Chiya didn't know how to respond to this question.

“I know what we're going to do,” Earl said pointing his finger up. Everyone turned to him, Earl crossed his arms while looking at Chiya. He then raised his hand up into the air with a clenched fist. “We're heading home. We've got a paint job to do!” he said referring to the _Purring Kitten_.

Chiya smiled and clapped her hands, completely up for working on her machine, “Sounds like a plan!”

“After you fix the Red Dove!” Seppuku shouted.

“Yeah, yeah…” Earl said waving his hand.

Chiya and Earl laughed at Seppuku as the day came to an end. The gang war was almost over and everyone was still alive. Crime would always remain in the Lower City, but for the first time in many years, people wouldn't need to fear going down the streets of the Lower City. Chiya could rest easy knowing one thing…

 

 

Her decision to align herself with Earl and Seppuku was the best decision she had ever made…


	37. Finale

==Epilogue=

 

A day had passed since the climatic battle for the Lower City. The Red Star and Bloody Chain fought each other to the last breath, but both ended up falling. Michael Chain had attempted to flee to the Lightning Area, but fell victim to the law—he now awaits a trial. The original members of the Bloody Chain were either dead, in prison, or on the run. Red Star continued to fight throughout the night, but soon found the same fate as the Bloody Chain members. The Japanese military destroyed both gangs, the Federation soon occupied and cleaned what remained; even today Federation soldiers patrolled the streets.

The gang war was over at long last, but the damage done to the Lower City would prove to be the real issue. The already trashed Lower City was now littered with bullets, blood, craters, wrecked buildings, destroyed vehicles, and much more; maintenance was far beyond Jody's fiscal capability. The citizens of the Lower City could enjoy living in a less dangerous part of the city, but at the cost of its infrastructure and destruction of many buildings. General crime would remain high, if not higher than before; but the threat of gang conquest had been removed.

Such a dark event had been rewarded with a bright day, Chiya and Earl were working together on installing a new door to the lobby. They already installed a new door to Seppuku's office, but the hole in the wall remained, thus making the door almost pointless.

Chiya held the door for Earl as he worked on putting it into the wall. They wanted the hallway to have working doors before they worked on any of the bigger damage done to the building.

After a few moments of installation, Earl stood up and backed away from the finished door, “That should do it.”

The Mysterian let go of the door, finding that it was perfectly attached, “Good work.”

“Thanks.”

Chiya stood up beside him and stretched while smiling, she then looked around the messy hallway. There were gun shells all over the floor along with holes and cracks. The blood had been mopped upon returning home that chaotic night.

“How in the world did you two survive all that fighting?”

Earl grinned as he threw a shell into the air and caught it, “I don't mean to gloat, but I was in the zone when I picked up that assault rifle.”

“I want an assault rifle!” she spoke with excitement.

The Korean chuckled, “Seppuku prefers you having a handgun, you can't just carry an assault rifle everywhere.”

“But Seppuku carries that huge cannon on his back all the time…” she challenged.

“But let's be honest, no sane person is going to get in a gun argument with that man.”

Chiya nodded in agreement, then glanced over at the destroyed bed Earl had been using for cover in the hallway, “You can sleep in my bed if you want, I have the Purring Kitten to sleep in.”

“I'm fine, I sleep in the garage half the time, so it doesn't really matter.”

“Ew, the garage?” The two exchanged stares, Earl almost took offense to this response. “Why would you do that? Seriously, take my bed; I can just sleep on the floor.”

The man continued to argue, “I used to sleep in my cold metal tank during the war. Trust me, I can handle any situation. Besides, you need good sleep to retain your beauty.”

“Hm, you're right. Okay, you better just sleep on the floor, then.”

The man took this response as humor and sat on the destroyed bed alongside Chiya for a few moments. Soon after, he widened his eyes in shock, having remembered something.

“Your cat must have been freaking out with all the explosions and gunfire.”

Chiya closed her eyes and sighed with a smile, “We—ell,” she moved her left arm forward, revealing several scratches, “I was having an issue getting Mauser out from under the bed…”

As the two sat together in a messy hallway, Earl found himself kicking his feet down at a consistent rate. His eyes scrolled over at Chiya, who was doing much of the same—but instead with her hands. The Mysterian's gaze was without direction, a clear indication that she had become lost in her thoughts. The Korean, however, stared her down as though he were conducting some study. The division between the two was broken as Chiya's gaze practically teleported onto him. He had but a second to justify his staring.

“Uh, Chiya.”

She smiled and nodded, “Uh, Earl.”

Earl tried to keep his gaze on her, but was conflicted on whether or not to stop doing so. After grasping his throat with nervousness, he continued, “Yesterday was very eventful.”

In response, the girl slapped his arm, “Really? I didn't notice.”

“Seppuku and I were talking about you just before Red Star attacked...”

Chiya's playful face died on the spot, unsure of whether or not to take positive or negative interest in this, “Oh?”

“Yeah, we were talking about you... and I...” Chiya raised both her brows and turned her torso toward him. “He said something... or 'proposed' something that got me thinking...”

“A proposition? Pertaining to... you and I?”

This question sent a shock down Earl's spine, he wasn't doubting that she had caught on to what he was trying to say. This, however, played a successful role in manipulating what he was going to say. And so a completely different proposal came out.

“Uh, yeah! I was thinking of maybe being your personal F-Zero mechanic..!” he panicked.

The actual proposal had been converted into that of an F-Zero proposal, but all the same, Chiya responded with glee. Taking grasp of his hand, Chiya beamed and began to bounce on the bed.

“Blimey, you mean you want to contract yourself to me?”

The man's face began to glow somewhat as he looked down at his trapped hand, then back into her eyes, “Uh... I like you... a- and I know your F-Zero machine inside out, so... why not, right?”

Chiya nodded her head in an almost erratic pace, but then narrowed her eyes. She kicked her feet down with puckered lips, “Oh, but I suppose that would distract you too much from being with people like Maggie...” She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.

Earl shook his head, “No, no, it won't. Besides, I don't really- well...” He scrambled to find the correct words. “Uh, you and your F-Zero ambitions are far more interesting and important to me, at any rate.”

Now the Mysterian pushed her own offensive onto him, “But you _are_ seeking a relationship.”

“No! Err... well, not really...” The Korean cupped a fist over his chin, “I mean, I kind of am, but...” In somewhat of a panic, the man flailed his arms, “I don't know how to answer that; I'm a bit blown back by what has happened these past days, you know?”

Chiya appeared somewhat disappointed, but nodded, nonetheless. She released his hand and exhaled, “Well, thank you for volunteering to maintain my machine. I kind of knew you'd help me, I just wasn't sure you'd be willing to help Seppuku and I at the same time.”

Earl had a look of mutual disappointment, but was willing to set aside romance for now. To move the conversation onward, he explained, “We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to fix this place up, but I think we're going to be safe from now on. We have no more enemies to fight.”

There was truth in this sentence; with the gang war over, there would be no more fears of getting killed. There were still fearsome individuals out in the universe such as Blood Falcon and Samurai Goroh, but these two were not a direct threat to them like the gangs were. Chiya wasn't going to fear about any of these other criminals, instead she would focus on F-Zero and live a happy new life with friends.

Her happy thought was cut short as Seppuku kicked open his new office door. A frightened Chiya hid behind Earl while trembling, Earl reacted by standing up and shaking his fist at Seppuku.

“Seppuku, can you not do that until we get the wall fixed?”

Seppuku crossed his arms with a tipped fedora, “Come to my office, I have something for you two…”

Chiya puckered her lips in excitement, expecting that there would be yet another reward. The two companions of Seppuku followed, the lieutenant took on a frustrated face and leaned over his desk. Both ends of his desk were being clawed at by the man, this was enough of a warning for Chiya to tell that something was wrong. The two stood before the man waiting for him to speak.

With a gambler's grin, Earl asked, “So, what do you have for us?”

Chiya tilted her head with a smile. _Hopefully it's something fun..!_

Seppuku gritted his teeth while facing the other direction, he then spun around and tossed two suitcases at them. Chiya looked down at the black case in confusion. Earl rubbed his chin while getting his case open; within this case was nothing—neither suitcase contained a thing. Chiya looked back up at Seppuku, who now had a discontent face.

“Go on, pack your things and leave, the both of you.”

Chiya and Earl both gasped at his orders.

“What!?” Chiya blurted in shock.

Earl appeared just as surprised as Chiya, “What? Are you kidding?”

“I said pack your things and leave, your services are no longer required here.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows in sorrow, not understanding what she had done wrong, “Why? I- I don't want to leave!”

“Yeah, what the Hell, man. Who's going to repair your machine if we're gone?”

Seppuku shrugged, “Don't know, I'll figure something out.”

Chiya's eyes began to water as soon as she realized that he truly wanted the two to leave. She shook her head in disbelief.

“Why are you doing this!?” she begged with full emotion.

Seppuku removed his fedora for a moment and rubbed his forehead with a blank expression; he seemed lost. After putting his hat back on, he turned to face the two. He crossed his arms in an attempt to appear as intimidating as he would any other day.

“I can no longer afford you two. It's nothing personal.”

Chiya widened her eyes, “Just decrease our pay a little.”

Earl grunted in disapproval at Chiya's suggestion, but decided to nod his head in hesitant agreement. Seppuku faced his desk again and slammed both hands against the surface.

“I did some math last night. Without the gang war, we'll be making only a fifth of what we usually make off of loot.” Chiya closed her eyes and sighed, now understanding the problem. “We're only making money off of what we loot from the common criminal, who's probably poor if not broke.”

Red Star and the Bloody Chain paid its workers well, every time Seppuku came across a body, he would take their wallets and use the money to pay Chiya and Earl. Without the gang war, they would be in a severe deficit. To pay Chiya and Earl their usual salary was but a mere fantasy now.

“The organization is going to shut down once you leave. I'll always be here if you need me.”

Chiya continued to shake her head, but was beginning to realize something. At first, she came from a background of no income, she was fortunate enough to get paid at all when she first joined in with Seppuku. The general thinking she was having was that if she could survive making no money, she could probably survive making the most minimal of income.

“I don't need money, just life essentials.”

Earl and Seppuku both gasped at Chiya in shock. Chiya was volunteering to stay with Seppuku for free. Seppuku stared at Chiya waiting for her to break, but was finding that she was true to her word, she was ready for such a strange commitment.

The Man of Darkness rubbed his forehead in awe, “Ch- Chiya I don't- what about Bendek?”

Earl glanced at Chiya with a pressured look, he was not as willing to work for free as she was. Chiya looked at Earl with a sad face, praying that he would stay with her and keep the organization strong. Earl could read the Mysterian with ease, knowing that she wanted him to stay very much; though it would be a huge burden on his life. All in all, he sighed with a decision in mind.

“Just keep the consumables and television going, and I guess I won't have a problem staying...”

Chiya beamed at his decision. Seppuku fell back into his chair in amazement, never realizing that his two soldiers were so loyal.

“I'm lucky to have such an amazing mechanic…” he said looking at Earl proudly. He then nodded at Chiya, “And I'm also lucky to have such an amazing…” Chiya smiled in anticipation for the compliment, “U—uh, an amazing Chiya...”

Seppuku sat back behind his desk again, pleased that they decided to stay with him. Earl took a seat and stretched his arms out, “Well, I don't know what it was; maybe it was your intimidation, the beer served here, or Chiya's beautiful eyes—but somehow you got a leash on me.”

“Very good. You'll still be paid, just not as often and not as much.”

Earl nodded while holding back a groan; he was willing to stick through the difficulty of this to keep Chiya happy.

Chiya laughed and leaned over Seppuku's desk, “Don't worry, we'll be swimming in money soon, anyways…”

Earl and Seppuku both raised an eyebrow at her, “Why's that, Flower?”

Chiya slowly looked up at his face with a look of determination. Her pretty eyes were telling him that everything was going to work out.

“Because we're going to win the Grand Prix next year!” she announced with a raised fist.

 

 

 

Jody and Dr. Stewart were up in the Federation HQ. The bright sunlight shined through the large windows of the building as Jody approached the doctor from behind. Stewart glanced over at Jody while he typed on a computer.

“Hello, Jody.”

The chief commander walked beside him with a blank expression, “I saw the Red Dove in the parking lot earlier. What did he want?”

Stewart chuckled at the question, “Ah yes, Seppuku and Chiya came by earlier with the total sum we're going to pay them for maintenance.”

Jody rubbed the back of her head, “I didn't think he would be so quick to take up my offer, but I'm true to my word, nonetheless…” She hummed and tilted her head, “How much did he request?”

The doctor stopped typing and turned with a grin, “Seppuku insisted on fifty million credits.”

“What!?”

This was followed by a laugh, “Don't worry, Chiya canceled out his request and only asked for twenty thousand.”

Jody exhaled in relief, she was not surprised that Seppuku would try and sneak some unnecessary profit off of her. Stewart continued continued with his work, but Jody remained behind him thinking.

“Chiya's a nice girl,” Stewart nodded in agreement at the compliment. Jody then got a confused face, “But what's a girl like her doing wasting her talents with a gangster like Seppuku? And for that matter, why _is_ a Mysterian so far away from her home planet?”

Stewart looked up at her, “You know the lieutenant; he loves doing eccentric things, and he loves eccentric people—especially if they share similar interests.”

This last sentence caused Jody's face to freeze almost robotically. It wasn't until now that Jody took out time to think deep about Chiya, and she was intrigued, to say the least. “Pull up her criminal records.”

The man stopped what he was doing to widen his eyes, “All of a sudden you think she's a criminal?”

Jody did not respond. Stewart turned towards his computer with hesitation and began pulling up pages. Jody pulled up a chair and cupped a hand over her mouth as they browsed. Stewart pulled up Chiya's records—which lacked a photo of her. Jody leaned in even closer and looked at the information, there was only one case recorded on Federation records.

Stewart cleared his throat and read, “'Chiya 'Lionne' Flower was caught leaving transport number forty-seven with nothing but a metal fork and blanket in her bag.'”

Jody nodded with a feeling of admiration for the Mysterian. Chiya appeared to be a simple young woman who had a bad start in life who stuck with Seppuku for the sake of having a home. Jody was beginning to contemplate if she should try stealing Chiya for the Federation and make her an official part of their special task force. The task force was comprised of Jody Summer, Dr. Stewart, Rick Wheeler, Jack Levin, Mr. EAD, John Tanaka, and Dr. Clash.

All seemed well, until Stewart discovered another page, “Hey, wa—ait a minute…”

Jody returned to her expressionless face and leaned forward. Stewart took a moment to think about what he had just read, then gave Jody a frightened look.

“Ms. Flower has a bounty on her.”

The chief commander grunted and stood up, “Huh? For what? You must be mistaken.”

“The bounty was posted by the government of Mysteria. But as you know, they keep their criminal records closed to the public, so-”

“I don't care, I want to see what she did.”

Stewart glared, “We would be violating Mysteria's right to privacy....”

“Just do it, I'll take the heat if we're caught.”

Stewart licked his lips before turning back to the computer. Jody had taken back everything she thought about Chiya, while the Mysterian government was corrupt and hostile toward their citizens, Chiya must have done something much larger to get a bounty placed on her. After entering a few special browsing modes, Stewart pulled up a decoded page of Chiya Flower from the Mysterian records.

“'Chiya Flower is tried for crimes as a convict, having fled Mysteria to an unknown region shortly before her trial.'”

“A convict? Trial?”

Stewart continued, “'A few years ago, Chiya was escaped a sentencing for hanging out with a bad crowd that dealt in drugs banned within the Mysterian Empire. She was only fined, however, for she had unknowingly been tricked into hosting the drugs in her home. The discoverer of the drugs was Robert Flower—father of Chiya and spokesman for the Mysterian Workers' Party.'”

Jody hummed, “Surely that's not what put her on a hit list, though.”

Stewart continued to scroll down the page, “'Chiya is best known for her role as varsity striker and captain of the New Edinburgh football team.'”

“Okay, that's interesting.”

After skimming through more basic information, Stewart came across a dark section of content. The content caused the man to grunt. “Wow, look at _this_.”

Jody moved up to the computer and read a short paragraph. Every few seconds her eyes would widen in confusion and shock; there wasn't much content, but enough to determine that she had found the reasoning for Chiya's bounty. The woman shook her head in disbelief at this and stepped away from the computer moments after reading it.

“That was... surprising. Quite sickening, actually…”

Stewart pointed his finger at the screen, “She committed the crime on the 'Day of Falling Mist', the event where an unidentified spacecraft of Godly size almost destroyed an entire city.”

Jody closed her eyes and breathed in to ponder about this. Of course, she was more so interested in the crime Chiya committed—not so much the date.

Stewart read on, “'Chiya is not allowed to reconnect with her mother until she faces trial. Chiya is wanted alive, but may be crippled or wounded if necessary.”

Jody continued to think back and forth on the matter. Even so, she found that there may be two sides to the story—not to mention, the Mysterian Empire has been known to exaggerate stories. There was no actual reason to accuse Chiya of anything, in this sense.

“Delete those records,” she ordered.

Stewart looked at her in shock, “You want me to delete criminal records outside of our jurisdiction?”

“Yes.”

“That's going too far, Jody.”

Jody clenched her fist at him, “Wipe her records. Let it be a gift to Chiya and a punch to the Mysterian Empire.” Stewart shook his head in disapproval. “Don't worry, I may not have a warrant for her arrest, but God knows I'm going to get answers from her. One thing is for certain, the young Flower is a citizen of the Galactic Space Federation now; as long as this remains true, I will not allow Mysteria to claim possession of her.”

Stewart was still fighting the idea of taking an illegal action, but when given orders by the Federation's chief commander, he had little of a choice to make. He wiped the records with the simple click of a button—and so Chiya could once again walk upon Mysterian soil with clean hands.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in an unexplored part of space, a dark red ship flew toward a massive ship. The large ship was silhouetted, thus camouflaging it into the emptiness of outer space. The red ship approached the hangar after a long trip home.

Once landed, the body of Brock Blaskovitz was thrown out of the loading ramp. Coming down the ramp of his ship was Blood Falcon, his yellow scarf was waving as he moved. Several robots holding advanced rifles were walking down the hallways of the massive ship, Blood Falcon walked past each one without fear.

A few minutes later, Blood Falcon opened a door leading to a massive dark room. Vast amounts of red screens surrounded the room, each one displaying a live feed of cities in the universe. Blood Falcon walked down the center of the room and soon came to a stop. Once standing before a fleet of stairs, Blood Falcon stomped his foot down and grinned with his teeth revealed.

“I'm back!”

Blood Falcon gazed up at a dark figure sitting in his chair. The man was clothed in a purplish black outfit, had large muscles, a cape, and a mask with horns. This was Black Shadow—the most wanted man in the universe, emperor of Dark Million, and creator of Blood Falcon.

In a deep tone, the emperor lectured, “Once again, you failed to kill Captain Falcon…”

Blood Falcon crossed his arms together, “Next time for sure.”

“Not only this, but you failed to win the Grand Prix, _again_!”

“Second place, baby!”

Black Shadow shook his head after releasing a heavy sigh, “No matter, the Grand Prix is irrelevant at any rate.” The emperor stood tall as he looked down upon Blood Falcon, “What of Aeropolis?”

“So close. The plan was foiled by Seppuku and Captain Falcon.”

The emperor's grin widened, “Seppuku was there?”

Blood Falcon nodded, “Seppuku was the reason I didn't win the Grand Prix, and why I couldn't get Aeropolis under our control.”

“I'm not surprised that Seppuku could defeat you.”

Blood Falcon growled, “He didn't, I wiped the floor with his ass. Captain Falcon came and destroyed the disc.”

“The Red Dove is working alongside Captain Falcon. How tragic.”

The clone smirked, “Seppuku's lackeys were easy to beat, I sent both the girl and boy to their knees in pain…”

“Lackeys?” Black Shadow rubbed his chin and chuckled, “It was only a matter of time before the Red Dove would try and put together an army of his own…” Black Shadow stepped down the stairs and approached the clone follower. “Return him to me,” he demanded.

Blood Falcon grinned, “Finally, a second objective!”

Black Shadow crossed his arms together as he stood in front of Blood Falcon. “Seppuku may be strong, fearsome, and a second threat to my existence—but he is nothing but a mere glitch; a small error in my master plan.”

“I assure you, Seppuku will be brought to you.”

“We must find and perform... 'maintenance' on the man. Through Seppuku, I can kill Captain Falcon; and by killing Captain Falcon, no living being in the universe will remain powerful enough to destroy me.” Blood Falcon smiled at the sound of killing Captain Falcon. “Kill two birds with one stone…”

“A great day that will be…” Blood Falcon added.

Black Shadow nodded, “But first, we must locate the Red Dove…”

Blood Falcon snapped his fingers, “Already in progress. I have brought with me the body of a man who may or may not know of his location. If we redesign the man in our image and restore any of his memories, he'll work on capturing the weakest of the pack, and the weakest will lead us straight to Seppuku…”

Black Shadow crossed his arms and asked, “Who is the weakest of the pack?”

“The one Seppuku has, somehow, grown a bond of some sort with...”

The clone turned and looked up at one of the red screens alongside Black Shadow, the live feed of a smoking Mute City could be seen from above.

 

 

“The girl…”

 

 

To be continued in Part 2 of 3!


	38. Epilogue

==Epilogue=

 

A day had passed since the climatic battle for the Lower City. The Red Star and Bloody Chain fought each other to the last breath, but both ended up falling. Michael Chain had attempted to flee to the Lightning Area, but fell victim to the law—he now awaits a trial. The original members of the Bloody Chain were either dead, in prison, or on the run. Red Star continued to fight throughout the night, but soon found the same fate as the Bloody Chain members. The Japanese military destroyed both gangs, the Federation soon occupied and cleaned what remained; even today Federation soldiers patrolled the streets.

The gang war was over at long last, but the damage done to the Lower City would prove to be the real issue. The already trashed Lower City was now littered with bullets, blood, craters, wrecked buildings, destroyed vehicles, and much more; maintenance was far beyond Jody's fiscal capability. The citizens of the Lower City could enjoy living in a less dangerous part of the city, but at the cost of its infrastructure and destruction of many buildings. General crime would remain high, if not higher than before; but the threat of gang conquest had been removed.

Such a dark event had been rewarded with a bright day, Chiya and Earl were working together on installing a new door to the lobby. They already installed a new door to Seppuku's office, but the hole in the wall remained, thus making the door almost pointless.

Chiya held the door for Earl as he worked on putting it into the wall. They wanted the hallway to have working doors before they worked on any of the bigger damage done to the building.

After a few moments of installation, Earl stood up and backed away from the finished door, “That should do it.”

The Mysterian let go of the door, finding that it was perfectly attached, “Good work.”

“Thanks.”

Chiya stood up beside him and stretched while smiling, she then looked around the messy hallway. There were gun shells all over the floor along with holes and cracks. The blood had been mopped upon returning home that chaotic night.

“How in the world did you two survive all that fighting?”

Earl grinned as he threw a shell into the air and caught it, “I don't mean to gloat, but I was in the zone when I picked up that assault rifle.”

“I want an assault rifle!” she spoke with excitement.

The Korean chuckled, “Seppuku prefers you having a handgun, you can't just carry an assault rifle everywhere.”

“But Seppuku carries that huge cannon on his back all the time…” she challenged.

“But let's be honest, no sane person is going to get in a gun argument with that man.”

Chiya nodded in agreement, then glanced over at the destroyed bed Earl had been using for cover in the hallway, “You can sleep in my bed if you want, I have the Purring Kitten to sleep in.”

“I'm fine, I sleep in the garage half the time, so it doesn't really matter.”

“Ew, the garage?” The two exchanged stares, Earl almost took offense to this response. “Why would you do that? Seriously, take my bed; I can just sleep on the floor.”

The man continued to argue, “I used to sleep in my cold metal tank during the war. Trust me, I can handle any situation. Besides, you need good sleep to retain your beauty.”

“Hm, you're right. Okay, you better just sleep on the floor, then.”

The man took this response as humor and sat on the destroyed bed alongside Chiya for a few moments. Soon after, he widened his eyes in shock, having remembered something.

“Your cat must have been freaking out with all the explosions and gunfire.”

Chiya closed her eyes and sighed with a smile, “We—ell,” she moved her left arm forward, revealing several scratches, “I was having an issue getting Mauser out from under the bed…”

As the two sat together in a messy hallway, Earl found himself kicking his feet down at a consistent rate. His eyes scrolled over at Chiya, who was doing much of the same—but instead with her hands. The Mysterian's gaze was without direction, a clear indication that she had become lost in her thoughts. The Korean, however, stared her down as though he were conducting some study. The division between the two was broken as Chiya's gaze practically teleported onto him. He had but a second to justify his staring.

“Uh, Chiya.”

She smiled and nodded, “Uh, Earl.”

Earl tried to keep his gaze on her, but was conflicted on whether or not to stop doing so. After grasping his throat with nervousness, he continued, “Yesterday was very eventful.”

In response, the girl slapped his arm, “Really? I didn't notice.”

“Seppuku and I were talking about you just before Red Star attacked...”

Chiya's playful face died on the spot, unsure of whether or not to take positive or negative interest in this, “Oh?”

“Yeah, we were talking about you... and I...” Chiya raised both her brows and turned her torso toward him. “He said something... or 'proposed' something that got me thinking...”

“A proposition? Pertaining to... you and I?”

This question sent a shock down Earl's spine, he wasn't doubting that she had caught on to what he was trying to say. This, however, played a successful role in manipulating what he was going to say. And so a completely different proposal came out.

“Uh, yeah! I was thinking of maybe being your personal F-Zero mechanic..!” he panicked.

The actual proposal had been converted into that of an F-Zero proposal, but all the same, Chiya responded with glee. Taking grasp of his hand, Chiya beamed and began to bounce on the bed.

“Blimey, you mean you want to contract yourself to me?”

The man's face began to glow somewhat as he looked down at his trapped hand, then back into her eyes, “Uh... I like you... a- and I know your F-Zero machine inside out, so... why not, right?”

Chiya nodded her head in an almost erratic pace, but then narrowed her eyes. She kicked her feet down with puckered lips, “Oh, but I suppose that would distract you too much from being with people like Maggie...” She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.

Earl shook his head, “No, no, it won't. Besides, I don't really- well...” He scrambled to find the correct words. “Uh, you and your F-Zero ambitions are far more interesting and important to me, at any rate.”

Now the Mysterian pushed her own offensive onto him, “But you _are_ seeking a relationship.”

“No! Err... well, not really...” The Korean cupped a fist over his chin, “I mean, I kind of am, but...” In somewhat of a panic, the man flailed his arms, “I don't know how to answer that; I'm a bit blown back by what has happened these past days, you know?”

Chiya appeared somewhat disappointed, but nodded, nonetheless. She released his hand and exhaled, “Well, thank you for volunteering to maintain my machine. I kind of knew you'd help me, I just wasn't sure you'd be willing to help Seppuku and I at the same time.”

Earl had a look of mutual disappointment, but was willing to set aside romance for now. To move the conversation onward, he explained, “We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to fix this place up, but I think we're going to be safe from now on. We have no more enemies to fight.”

There was truth in this sentence; with the gang war over, there would be no more fears of getting killed. There were still fearsome individuals out in the universe such as Blood Falcon and Samurai Goroh, but these two were not a direct threat to them like the gangs were. Chiya wasn't going to fear about any of these other criminals, instead she would focus on F-Zero and live a happy new life with friends.

Her happy thought was cut short as Seppuku kicked open his new office door. A frightened Chiya hid behind Earl while trembling, Earl reacted by standing up and shaking his fist at Seppuku.

“Seppuku, can you not do that until we get the wall fixed?”

Seppuku crossed his arms with a tipped fedora, “Come to my office, I have something for you two…”

Chiya puckered her lips in excitement, expecting that there would be yet another reward. The two companions of Seppuku followed, the lieutenant took on a frustrated face and leaned over his desk. Both ends of his desk were being clawed at by the man, this was enough of a warning for Chiya to tell that something was wrong. The two stood before the man waiting for him to speak.

With a gambler's grin, Earl asked, “So, what do you have for us?”

Chiya tilted her head with a smile. _Hopefully it's something fun..!_

Seppuku gritted his teeth while facing the other direction, he then spun around and tossed two suitcases at them. Chiya looked down at the black case in confusion. Earl rubbed his chin while getting his case open; within this case was nothing—neither suitcase contained a thing. Chiya looked back up at Seppuku, who now had a discontent face.

“Go on, pack your things and leave, the both of you.”

Chiya and Earl both gasped at his orders.

“What!?” Chiya blurted in shock.

Earl appeared just as surprised as Chiya, “What? Are you kidding?”

“I said pack your things and leave, your services are no longer required here.”

Chiya lowered her eyebrows in sorrow, not understanding what she had done wrong, “Why? I- I don't want to leave!”

“Yeah, what the Hell, man. Who's going to repair your machine if we're gone?”

Seppuku shrugged, “Don't know, I'll figure something out.”

Chiya's eyes began to water as soon as she realized that he truly wanted the two to leave. She shook her head in disbelief.

“Why are you doing this!?” she begged with full emotion.

Seppuku removed his fedora for a moment and rubbed his forehead with a blank expression; he seemed lost. After putting his hat back on, he turned to face the two. He crossed his arms in an attempt to appear as intimidating as he would any other day.

“I can no longer afford you two. It's nothing personal.”

Chiya widened her eyes, “Just decrease our pay a little.”

Earl grunted in disapproval at Chiya's suggestion, but decided to nod his head in hesitant agreement. Seppuku faced his desk again and slammed both hands against the surface.

“I did some math last night. Without the gang war, we'll be making only a fifth of what we usually make off of loot.” Chiya closed her eyes and sighed, now understanding the problem. “We're only making money off of what we loot from the common criminal, who's probably poor if not broke.”

Red Star and the Bloody Chain paid its workers well, every time Seppuku came across a body, he would take their wallets and use the money to pay Chiya and Earl. Without the gang war, they would be in a severe deficit. To pay Chiya and Earl their usual salary was but a mere fantasy now.

“The organization is going to shut down once you leave. I'll always be here if you need me.”

Chiya continued to shake her head, but was beginning to realize something. At first, she came from a background of no income, she was fortunate enough to get paid at all when she first joined in with Seppuku. The general thinking she was having was that if she could survive making no money, she could probably survive making the most minimal of income.

“I don't need money, just life essentials.”

Earl and Seppuku both gasped at Chiya in shock. Chiya was volunteering to stay with Seppuku for free. Seppuku stared at Chiya waiting for her to break, but was finding that she was true to her word, she was ready for such a strange commitment.

The Man of Darkness rubbed his forehead in awe, “Ch- Chiya I don't- what about Bendek?”

Earl glanced at Chiya with a pressured look, he was not as willing to work for free as she was. Chiya looked at Earl with a sad face, praying that he would stay with her and keep the organization strong. Earl could read the Mysterian with ease, knowing that she wanted him to stay very much; though it would be a huge burden on his life. All in all, he sighed with a decision in mind.

“Just keep the consumables and television going, and I guess I won't have a problem staying...”

Chiya beamed at his decision. Seppuku fell back into his chair in amazement, never realizing that his two soldiers were so loyal.

“I'm lucky to have such an amazing mechanic…” he said looking at Earl proudly. He then nodded at Chiya, “And I'm also lucky to have such an amazing…” Chiya smiled in anticipation for the compliment, “U—uh, an amazing Chiya...”

Seppuku sat back behind his desk again, pleased that they decided to stay with him. Earl took a seat and stretched his arms out, “Well, I don't know what it was; maybe it was your intimidation, the beer served here, or Chiya's beautiful eyes—but somehow you got a leash on me.”

“Very good. You'll still be paid, just not as often and not as much.”

Earl nodded while holding back a groan; he was willing to stick through the difficulty of this to keep Chiya happy.

Chiya laughed and leaned over Seppuku's desk, “Don't worry, we'll be swimming in money soon, anyways…”

Earl and Seppuku both raised an eyebrow at her, “Why's that, Flower?”

Chiya slowly looked up at his face with a look of determination. Her pretty eyes were telling him that everything was going to work out.

“Because we're going to win the Grand Prix next year!” she announced with a raised fist.

 

 

 

Jody and Dr. Stewart were up in the Federation HQ. The bright sunlight shined through the large windows of the building as Jody approached the doctor from behind. Stewart glanced over at Jody while he typed on a computer.

“Hello, Jody.”

The chief commander walked beside him with a blank expression, “I saw the Red Dove in the parking lot earlier. What did he want?”

Stewart chuckled at the question, “Ah yes, Seppuku and Chiya came by earlier with the total sum we're going to pay them for maintenance.”

Jody rubbed the back of her head, “I didn't think he would be so quick to take up my offer, but I'm true to my word, nonetheless…” She hummed and tilted her head, “How much did he request?”

The doctor stopped typing and turned with a grin, “Seppuku insisted on fifty million credits.”

“What!?”

This was followed by a laugh, “Don't worry, Chiya canceled out his request and only asked for twenty thousand.”

Jody exhaled in relief, she was not surprised that Seppuku would try and sneak some unnecessary profit off of her. Stewart continued continued with his work, but Jody remained behind him thinking.

“Chiya's a nice girl,” Stewart nodded in agreement at the compliment. Jody then got a confused face, “But what's a girl like her doing wasting her talents with a gangster like Seppuku? And for that matter, why _is_ a Mysterian so far away from her home planet?”

Stewart looked up at her, “You know the lieutenant; he loves doing eccentric things, and he loves eccentric people—especially if they share similar interests.”

This last sentence caused Jody's face to freeze almost robotically. It wasn't until now that Jody took out time to think deep about Chiya, and she was intrigued, to say the least. “Pull up her criminal records.”

The man stopped what he was doing to widen his eyes, “All of a sudden you think she's a criminal?”

Jody did not respond. Stewart turned towards his computer with hesitation and began pulling up pages. Jody pulled up a chair and cupped a hand over her mouth as they browsed. Stewart pulled up Chiya's records—which lacked a photo of her. Jody leaned in even closer and looked at the information, there was only one case recorded on Federation records.

Stewart cleared his throat and read, “'Chiya 'Lionne' Flower was caught leaving transport number forty-seven with nothing but a metal fork and blanket in her bag.'”

Jody nodded with a feeling of admiration for the Mysterian. Chiya appeared to be a simple young woman who had a bad start in life who stuck with Seppuku for the sake of having a home. Jody was beginning to contemplate if she should try stealing Chiya for the Federation and make her an official part of their special task force. The task force was comprised of Jody Summer, Dr. Stewart, Rick Wheeler, Jack Levin, Mr. EAD, John Tanaka, and Dr. Clash.

All seemed well, until Stewart discovered another page, “Hey, wa—ait a minute…”

Jody returned to her expressionless face and leaned forward. Stewart took a moment to think about what he had just read, then gave Jody a frightened look.

“Ms. Flower has a bounty on her.”

The chief commander grunted and stood up, “Huh? For what? You must be mistaken.”

“The bounty was posted by the government of Mysteria. But as you know, they keep their criminal records closed to the public, so-”

“I don't care, I want to see what she did.”

Stewart glared, “We would be violating Mysteria's right to privacy....”

“Just do it, I'll take the heat if we're caught.”

Stewart licked his lips before turning back to the computer. Jody had taken back everything she thought about Chiya, while the Mysterian government was corrupt and hostile toward their citizens, Chiya must have done something much larger to get a bounty placed on her. After entering a few special browsing modes, Stewart pulled up a decoded page of Chiya Flower from the Mysterian records.

“'Chiya Flower is tried for crimes as a convict, having fled Mysteria to an unknown region shortly before her trial.'”

“A convict? Trial?”

Stewart continued, “'A few years ago, Chiya was escaped a sentencing for hanging out with a bad crowd that dealt in drugs banned within the Mysterian Empire. She was only fined, however, for she had unknowingly been tricked into hosting the drugs in her home. The discoverer of the drugs was Robert Flower—father of Chiya and spokesman for the Mysterian Workers' Party.'”

Jody hummed, “Surely that's not what put her on a hit list, though.”

Stewart continued to scroll down the page, “'Chiya is best known for her role as varsity striker and captain of the New Edinburgh football team.'”

“Okay, that's interesting.”

After skimming through more basic information, Stewart came across a dark section of content. The content caused the man to grunt. “Wow, look at _this_.”

Jody moved up to the computer and read a short paragraph. Every few seconds her eyes would widen in confusion and shock; there wasn't much content, but enough to determine that she had found the reasoning for Chiya's bounty. The woman shook her head in disbelief at this and stepped away from the computer moments after reading it.

“That was... surprising. Quite sickening, actually…”

Stewart pointed his finger at the screen, “She committed the crime on the 'Day of Falling Mist', the event where an unidentified spacecraft of Godly size almost destroyed an entire city.”

Jody closed her eyes and breathed in to ponder about this. Of course, she was more so interested in the crime Chiya committed—not so much the date.

Stewart read on, “'Chiya is not allowed to reconnect with her mother until she faces trial. Chiya is wanted alive, but may be crippled or wounded if necessary.”

Jody continued to think back and forth on the matter. Even so, she found that there may be two sides to the story—not to mention, the Mysterian Empire has been known to exaggerate stories. There was no actual reason to accuse Chiya of anything, in this sense.

“Delete those records,” she ordered.

Stewart looked at her in shock, “You want me to delete criminal records outside of our jurisdiction?”

“Yes.”

“That's going too far, Jody.”

Jody clenched her fist at him, “Wipe her records. Let it be a gift to Chiya and a punch to the Mysterian Empire.” Stewart shook his head in disapproval. “Don't worry, I may not have a warrant for her arrest, but God knows I'm going to get answers from her. One thing is for certain, the young Flower is a citizen of the Galactic Space Federation now; as long as this remains true, I will not allow Mysteria to claim possession of her.”

Stewart was still fighting the idea of taking an illegal action, but when given orders by the Federation's chief commander, he had little of a choice to make. He wiped the records with the simple click of a button—and so Chiya could once again walk upon Mysterian soil with clean hands.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in an unexplored part of space, a dark red ship flew toward a massive ship. The large ship was silhouetted, thus camouflaging it into the emptiness of outer space. The red ship approached the hangar after a long trip home.

Once landed, the body of Brock Blaskovitz was thrown out of the loading ramp. Coming down the ramp of his ship was Blood Falcon, his yellow scarf was waving as he moved. Several robots holding advanced rifles were walking down the hallways of the massive ship, Blood Falcon walked past each one without fear.

A few minutes later, Blood Falcon opened a door leading to a massive dark room. Vast amounts of red screens surrounded the room, each one displaying a live feed of cities in the universe. Blood Falcon walked down the center of the room and soon came to a stop. Once standing before a fleet of stairs, Blood Falcon stomped his foot down and grinned with his teeth revealed.

“I'm back!”

Blood Falcon gazed up at a dark figure sitting in his chair. The man was clothed in a purplish black outfit, had large muscles, a cape, and a mask with horns. This was Black Shadow—the most wanted man in the universe, emperor of Dark Million, and creator of Blood Falcon.

In a deep tone, the emperor lectured, “Once again, you failed to kill Captain Falcon…”

Blood Falcon crossed his arms together, “Next time for sure.”

“Not only this, but you failed to win the Grand Prix, _again_!”

“Second place, baby!”

Black Shadow shook his head after releasing a heavy sigh, “No matter, the Grand Prix is irrelevant at any rate.” The emperor stood tall as he looked down upon Blood Falcon, “What of Aeropolis?”

“So close. The plan was foiled by Seppuku and Captain Falcon.”

The emperor's grin widened, “Seppuku was there?”

Blood Falcon nodded, “Seppuku was the reason I didn't win the Grand Prix, and why I couldn't get Aeropolis under our control.”

“I'm not surprised that Seppuku could defeat you.”

Blood Falcon growled, “He didn't, I wiped the floor with his ass. Captain Falcon came and destroyed the disc.”

“The Red Dove is working alongside Captain Falcon. How tragic.”

The clone smirked, “Seppuku's lackeys were easy to beat, I sent both the girl and boy to their knees in pain…”

“Lackeys?” Black Shadow rubbed his chin and chuckled, “It was only a matter of time before the Red Dove would try and put together an army of his own…” Black Shadow stepped down the stairs and approached the clone follower. “Return him to me,” he demanded.

Blood Falcon grinned, “Finally, a second objective!”

Black Shadow crossed his arms together as he stood in front of Blood Falcon. “Seppuku may be strong, fearsome, and a second threat to my existence—but he is nothing but a mere glitch; a small error in my master plan.”

“I assure you, Seppuku will be brought to you.”

“We must find and perform... 'maintenance' on the man. Through Seppuku, I can kill Captain Falcon; and by killing Captain Falcon, no living being in the universe will remain powerful enough to destroy me.” Blood Falcon smiled at the sound of killing Captain Falcon. “Kill two birds with one stone…”

“A great day that will be…” Blood Falcon added.

Black Shadow nodded, “But first, we must locate the Red Dove…”

Blood Falcon snapped his fingers, “Already in progress. I have brought with me the body of a man who may or may not know of his location. If we redesign the man in our image and restore any of his memories, he'll work on capturing the weakest of the pack, and the weakest will lead us straight to Seppuku…”

Black Shadow crossed his arms and asked, “Who is the weakest of the pack?”

“The one Seppuku has, somehow, grown a bond of some sort with...”

The clone turned and looked up at one of the red screens alongside Black Shadow, the live feed of a smoking Mute City could be seen from above.

 

 

“The girl…”

 

 

To be continued in Part 2 of 3!


End file.
